Since I had my papers stolen a month ago, I went to the police three times: to announce the theft, to pick up the official declaration de vol and to verify my address. I also had the police come to my house to verify my address (once more). When I asked them whether they would give me a document with the verification, they said I should just go to the town hall on Thursday and I would be fine.

Well, today’s attempt to apply for my new identity card failed because I didn’t have the so-called convocation de police which I clearly should have received. Back at the police headquarters, the person responsible won’t be around until tomorrow.

That’s now seven visits to administrative offices in a month. It’ll take at least three more to get that one piece of paper I’m after. Patience.

In terms of comparison: it only took one visit to get my preliminary ID card in Germany. Two weeks later, my mum went to pick up the proper one. What if it’s easy?

It still felt like yesterday. An election that didn’t result in a government. A prime minister that didn’t want to govern. A nation that didn’t know its identity. All that was now past, soon to be forgotten.

In the distance, King Albert could hear the countdown: Trois – Deux – Un – Zero. He closed his eyes as his seat began to shake. The momentum pressed him into the seatbelts. He could feel the spaceship moving. It had started to happen.

Thirty minutes from now, he would be in orbit. Then, he would flip the switch that would connect him first to the Flemish, then to the Wallonian television satellites. Several hundred thousand meters above his former territory, he, the last Belgian, would officially announce: His country had moved on.

The bickering, the bitching the Flemish could keep. The nagging and complaining should stay with the Walloons. But Belgium, Belgium was to thrive.

His secret plan, hatched for years and refined in classified negotiations with the European Space Agency, was this: Belgium was leaving on a one-way mission to Mars. Behind the king, also pressed into their seats, sat a hundred volunteers. They would build the new country on the red planet.

The new Belgium would occupy not a crowded corner of Europe, but would settle a magnificient planet. Belgium would be famous as the most innovative location in the entire universe, not for being a failed state. Never, vowed King Albert, was he to return.

It had started to happen. From now on, the rest was to become history. Belgium was never going to be the same.

Credits: Edina’s and Monica’s Creative Writing Workshop and Adrian for the first sentence.

Let’s do this thing.

There’s no particular order to these short reviews. I own most of these books either on paper or as audio book. As I do believe in book sharing: Drop me a line if you want one of them!

1. Medea:Stimmen (Wolf) ***
   Medea was a random pick-up at Pêle-Mêle, but boy, it’s intense. Greek tragedy is seriously screwed up: Don’t try to look for right or wrong, just embrace the dilemma! Also: Great material for my next Toastmasters project. Here’s the practice podcast.
2. The Creative Habit (Tharp) ***
   Recommended by the likes of Mr Mann and Ms Wainwright, this seems to be a classic for creative professionals. The dancer in me thoroughly enjoyed the stories from Tharp’s choreography practice. The take-away: Creativity is hard work. Build a practice. Keep at it. Challenge yourself. Rinse, repeat.
3. Netherland (O’Neill) ***
   I don’t know who told me that this was a favourite amongs Obamaites, but there you go: A post 9/11 novel about New York, Cricket and transatlantic relationships. A pleasant read in the style of Corrections, but in the end not too impressive.
4. The Science of Enlightenment (Young) ****
   Meditation for Mathmaticians? Well, there you go. An intensive listen with its 17 hours, from the benefits of meditation and an introduction to deeper questions of identity and Buddhism. I wasn’t ready yet to follow all exercises, but have to credit Young for giving me the foundation for my meditation practice.
5. The Age of Wonder (Holmes) *****
   Wow, definitely the read of the year! An intense account of a time where science and poetry evolved in deep conversation: Foreign cultures, the heavens, chemistry. Told along the lines of the British Royal Society and interspersed with poetry and literature. Awesome.
6. Magazine Editing (Morrish) **
   Meh. Bought this book to learn about how to build a new magazine for a membership organisation. Instead of the step-by-step approach I was hoping for, I got an in-depth account of the role of the editor for existing magazines, always assuming that there’s still a publisher to take the remaining decisions and a large team to do the bulk of the work. In the end, I’ll need to solve my riddles myself.
7. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel (Clarke) **
   Long. Praised as a mix of Jane Austen’s sense for personalities and details and JK Rowling’s magical imagination, I was hoping for a narrative that would carry me through 1.000 pages of french. I managed to get to the end, but it took half a century. At least.
8. Don’t think of an elephant (Lakoff) ***
   An essential introduction to framing political issues, how to identify them and how to employ them. For me an excellent backgrounder to the framing research we commissioned on ecolabels this year.
9. Brain rules (Medina) ***
   I vaguely remember, there were 12 rules. One of them was exercise. But I fear that my brain hasn’t quite absorbed these rules yet, otherwise it would function better. Still, a strong reminder to take good care of your brain.
10. Wishcraft (Sher) *****
    If I hadn’t already awarded the title read of the year, then this would be it. This book kicks *ss. What to expect: A solid goal-setting process followed by an unconventional approach to getting there, including, yes, asking for help and making it fun. A great start into the second half of 2009. And the best: You can download the pdf of the book for free.
11. Made to Stick (Heath) ****
    Yep, messaging and storytelling. One of my favourite topics. I remember a number of aha moments when listening to the book (and should really buy the paper version to be able to look them up once more).
12. Ecological Intelligence (Goleman) **
    Yes, we need to solve the ecological crisis. Yes, we can do it. And yes, consumer behaviour, transparency and corporate social responsibility will play a big role. I appreciate that Goleman took up the topic; however, I’m not sure how much he contributed to the overall debate.
13. Difficult Conversations (Stone, Patton, Heen) ***
    Read in conjunction with a number of difficult conversations I had to have. The book introduces a number of “key conversations” and proposes strategies to deal with them. A really useful framework. Now, if I could only remember to use them when things get difficult…
14. In Defense of Food (Pollan) ***
    Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. That’s the premise of the book, and Pollan then goes into detail: How eating became a pseudo-science and how thinking about nutrient content actually harms our eating habits. Good to read, but not essential.
15. Nonviolent Communication (Rosenberg) *****
    However, this one is. Again: A comparatively easy concept explained in detail, but it takes a moment to sink in. Summary: When you _____, I feel ______. I need to _____. Can you _____?
16. Strengthsfinder 2.0 (Rath) ***
    A personality test disguised as a book. I wrote about it earlier. It’s a game, it’s fun, you learn about yourself. What more could one ask for?
17. What I talk about when I talk about running (Murakami) ***
    Creativity, contemplation, exercise: Topics that have been with me this year. If my favourite author writes about the topic, I have to read it. However: I was disappointed by this account. It felt too much like a journal to overcome his own runner’s crisis.
18. Mensch ohne Hund (Nesser) ***
    Swedish thrillers. Must be read. On the train or on the sofa, but definitely in hours on end. The culprit is known too early in this one, though.
19. The necessary revolution (Senge) ***
    What is the role of collaborative creation in overcoming today’s sustainability challenges? After listening to the audiobook, I wanted to buy the paper version for reference. Also: A great description of one of my favourite projects, the Sustainable Food Lab.
20. A Theory of Everything (Wilber) *
    Don’t know what to think about this one. Didn’t like? Didn’t understand? That the book included too many obvious statements, too badly written? We’ll see.
21. Child 44 (Smith) ***
    Great book to read through the night. The story of a mass-murderer in post-Stalin Russia, when crime was supposed to be non-existent. Thrilling.
22. Don’t make me think! (Krug) ***
    An introduction to website usability. Originally written in 200X, and yes, the web has moved on since then. For good. Still: Plenty of good advice there, some of it common sense, other parts less so.
23. The Secret (Byrne) *
    Do I believe in the law of attraction? No. Do I have friends who do? Yes. I wanted to know what the hype was all about, and what the heck, I had spare audible credits. I do believe in the power of intention, however.
24. Whoever tells the best story wins (Simmons) ***
    This person is definitely not me. Storytelling? Uargh, difficult. Especially about myself. Nevertheless: Something I want to work on. Didn’t learn the greatest deal from the book, but then, you don’t learn storytelling by reading, do you?

Any books you can recommend?

So, there I was, wanting to make a white chocolate mousse. The basic recipe I found:

• Melt 1 part* chocolate with 1 part cream. Let cool.
• Whip 1 part cream. Fold into the cooled mixture.
• Fill into pretty glasses and let chill.

The impatient cook that I am of course folds the whipped cream into the lukewarm chocolate mix and it all goes pear-shaped. Hooray.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or White Chocolate Icecream with Speculoos (and Raspberries). Here’s how:

• Mash up 1 part of Speculoos (the typical caramel cookies of Belgium) and fold into the mix.
• Fill everything into a container and place it in the fridge for at least six hours.
• Every two hours or so, take the container out, mix everything thoroughly, and place it back in.
• In the meantime, blend 1 part of no-longer-frozen raspberries with some icing sugar into a raspberry coulis.
• Decorate the icecream with some lovely leftover meringues, and serve with a helping of raspberries.

Voila.

* In my case, 1 part was 400g. But I had to feed an army ;)

via Oberrazzi on Flickr

1. Where is the root of the situation?
2. What is my contribution?
3. What do I need?
4. How can I do this differently?
5. What does this remind me of?
6. What outcome do I wish for?
7. How long will this take?
8. What will make it worth my while?
9. Who else is involved?
10. Where is passion?
11. Where is compassion?
12. Who can help with this?
13. How can I get more information?
14. What is the next action?
15. What is holding me back?
16. What steps do I see on the way?
17. What is the worst thing that can happen?
18. How does it align with my values, with my deepest beliefs?
19. Who needs to know about this?
20. What learning can I pass on to others?

Wow — this looks like a pretty good list of questions to apply to difficult situations, problem solving and/or project planning. I already have 1, 2 ideas for situations I would like to apply this to.

Do you want to play? What questions do you carry right now?

What do you wish to complete?

When answering this question, I notice how many of my current projects aren’t so much asking for completion, but for the establishment of a practice. Each completed step is just progress, but nothing to hold on to; nothing that would give me permission to let go.

Still, when reflecting about my themes for the year complete was one of them. I even made a list (and did sufficiently well on it).

For now, I wish to complete:

1. The Toastmasters Competent Leader Certificate
2. The Professional Diploma in Marketing
3. The book ‘Branded’

Completing things creates room for new things to emerge.

• Chartered Institute of Marketing – Professional Diploma in Marketing

Hugh MacLeod, cartoonist and writer behind Gapingvoid.com, has just published a book full of tips for young artists/creatives/people. My top five:

5. You are responsible for your own experience.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.
16. The world is changing.
27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.

Hugh McLeod: Ignore Everybody (via Amazon)

When I arrived in the office this morning, I wasn’t quite ready yet and needed more time to understand where I was at and what was bothering me. A quick check of the agenda and a phone call with my boss, and – tada – there was a day of leave.

It’s funny to have an unplanned day off: There’s some time to spend, but not too much and most of it alone. What do you do?

As my main goal was to re-energize and to re-connect, there was no point in spending much time intellectualizing about what was going on, but rather give my body and mind the space to do their work unconsciously. Here’s how I regained my centre:

When I came home, I cried some more, then leafed the first couple of pages of Difficult Conversations for a while. But as there’s nothing better for general well-being, mood and energy levels as fresh air, sun and some exercise, my next step clearly had to be the Bois de la Cambre. Plenty of oxygen in my brain afterwards, and delight over the greens and the trees out there. On the way back, a stop Mama Roma for the best pizza in the world, eating slowly, drinking lots of water. Picked up some Moelleux au Chocolat from C’est pas raisonnable for later, then home, hitting the shower.

By that time I had arranged a phone call with my boss in the afternoon, and boy, did I enjoy the nap until the phone rang. And what a difference the few hours made since we spoke in the morning: I wasn’t stuck and terrified anymore, and could actually listen and share my perceptions.

Anything afterwards was a piece of chocolate cake (see above). Taking an hour to listen to Shinzen Young. Drafting a blogpost. Leading a conference call. Welcoming the BF from work, and feeding him chili. And oh-so-good to top things off: a really sweet birthday party for a good friend who has lots of nice friends to have great conversations with.

In short: Time out can be incredibly rewarding. And sometimes ‘hitting the wall’ gives you a chance to actually do something with it.

People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

via Strengthsfinder 2.0