Dear friends,

I had noooooo idea…..about the degree to which my upsets where running my life. Not the least idea. I came back from this wonderful workshop in Cambridge with Ariel and Shya and of course I had realized that “something” had happened. I hoped for “something” to be different after my return, but I would never ever have expected such a profound difference.

I came home on Sunday night and the first thing I realized on Monday morning was the trigger of an upset. It was like a little “beep” inside me, something jumping, but then….nothing. A few moments later the next little “beep”. And the day went on like this. I was flabbergasted by the sheer quantity of little triggers throughout the day. I didn’t count but there were MANY of them. And for the first time I understood what Ariel and Shya mean by “mechanic behavior”!!!! Because it just happens at a trigger, but the trigger is no real reason. I used to get upset about a thousand things that are no “real reasons” or justifications to get upset. It hurt a little to see that I have also “considered” my children to be a cause of upset. This week I’ve actually been able to be with my kids and weather through difficult situations without getting upset. It is actually almost a strange feeling. It feels as if I had been drugged or doped. Tranquilizers or something. It’s so funny because there is even a kind of a little man inside myself (I picture it that way) really furious about me not getting upset. And it’s also sometimes even leaving me a little uncertain. I am in a traffic jam. I don’t get upset. What am I going to do??? . (more…)

Dear Transformation Community,

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Key Food grocery store by my house and as I was leaving, I noticed on the bulletin board a dazzling ad that caught my eye. It was for a housecleaning service. It said, “I will make your place sparkle!” with a very nice font.  Below is the ad for you to take a look at.

The funny thing is that for quite some time now, I’ve been thinking about getting my place cleaned by someone. I’ve been resisting cleaning my place myself and I just thought it would be easier to pay someone to do it. But I resisted even doing that with thoughts of “Why should I pay someone else? it’s my place. It’s not that big. I should be able to do it myself,” etc. Anyway, the one thing I couldn’t resist was this ad. It was like it was meant for me! So I called the lady Nancy and she came over and she cleaned like a demon. She did a great job and she was very professional. (more…)

Dear Friends,

10 days  ago, I thought it would be a nice idea to send my mother some flowers at Mother’s Day, May 9th.  So I went in the Internet to my online flower shop and checked Mother’s Days flower bouquets. They were beautiful, but nothing really touched my heart. So I checked the other offers, and suddenly a stunning bouquet of a dozen large red roses popped up. A beautiful heart shaped tin box with filled chocolate was attached.  It looked just gorgeous! Then my little voice in my head started: “No, this is something for lovers, not for moms.” And then I saw, they are only available tll April 30th. Ok, enough resonable reasons to forget about it. I looked for something else, and one minute later I jumped back to the roses.  They looked so incredible precious and beautiful. (more…)

It all started in Costa Rica. Actually it started just after the completion of the Kanes’ Costa Rican Adventure 2010, which was the best ever, by the way. Although I was inspired and really wanted to go again in 2011, I had hesitated to sign up for Costa Rica next year, because I didn’t want to register without letting my 16-year-old daughter Ayla in on my decision first. This past year, when I had let Ayla know I was going, she had pouted for a week or more because I hadn’t consulted her before committing to go.  I had actually hesitated before telling her because I was afraid she might disapprove!

On the way to my room to get my luggage before heading home, I ran into Ariel and Shya on one of the beautiful covered walkways and we started chatting.  When I outlined my dilemma, they pointed out that what I was actually doing was to ask my daughter for her permission to go to Costa Rica again and that it is I who is the mother who needs to say what’s going on – not vice versa. They said that I was trying to be Ayla’s friend instead of her mother.  It was not long before I discovered how true this really had been.

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Dear Friends!

I just came back from a funeral that I attended with my husband Stephan (thanks for being there for me!).  This was the funeral of a former client of mine whose name is Christine and I want to tell you about her:

Christine was sitting in a wheelchair since she was 5 years old, because of amyotaxia (a kind of spasticity, that goes in “waves” through the body so that you can’t really control your movements) and could only walk with the help of other people.  If she wanted to move by herself, she used to crawl on her bottom.  I had been Christine’s physical therapist for several years, before she moved out of her home in Hamburg 5 years ago into her own apartment in the city (she got a job at the zoological institute), where we found a new therapist for her. (more…)

Dearest Friends,

Last Thursday my partner Daniela and I  had the opening for our show – presenting our furniture line “Color in Form” for the first time. It was an awesome, beautiful and successful evening.

Here are some highlights from the evening: The mayor of the town spoke at the introduction, the vice president from the board of trade did the Laudatio and our friend, actress Katharina Abt, did a reading about “Art in the Living room”, which is fun piece itself, but turned into a jewel when Katharina performed it. All three where so heartfelt and brilliant , it added extra spice to the event and we felt very honored.
Also we had the most yummy and beautiful food catered by our friend Stephan Monzel; people just loved the food and felt happy and taken care of .  And a saxophonist played some beautiful background lounge music (thanks Katja for the contact:-)).
We expected about 80 guests and thought that would be wonderful, since it was summer, the baltic sea is around the corner and the weather was just perfect for the beach. It was perfect for us too – we had a 150 guests:-)) 2 People ordered right away and we have a list of people who are interested in receiving more information and some individual solutions.  A friend with a home-acessories store with a small selection of furniture is interested in selling our furniture and THE local daily newspaper for Hamburg is running a special on furniture for teens soon and part of the article is about our furniture, including a picture and of course all of our contact info

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Dear friends,

I want to share some exciting news with you.

After working over 13 years mostly as an actor, I got a new job in Europe’s biggest and most beautiful Spa and Treatment Center near Cologne. The name is Mediterana. For the opening of a new Indian section at the end of August they are building a new team called ‘The Buddha team’ that I am part of. I will be responsible for reception desk, looking after guests, special happenings in the saunas and meditation.

I am also still working on stage; I am playing a very nice part in Pippi Longstocking in a beautiful outside area in the countryside. I auditioned a lot this year for theater jobs and got the most brilliant feedback ever since.
(more…)

Fernanda reveals some useful dating tips. (Note: This podcast is in English and Spanish.)

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Bill discovers that he has stopped treating his job as a tenured professor at one of the world’s largest art schools as his “day job” and his 48-year-old marriage is the best it’s ever been.

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Dear Friends,

Hello! I’m in New York, about to attend the Art of Relating this weekend, which I’m very, very excited about!! Meanwhile, I have a little magical moment to share…

When I arrived in New York, I queued up to go through Customs. After taking my fingerprints the guy at the desk started asking me questions: “what is the purpose of your visit?” “how long do you plan to stay in the United States?”…

Now, I must admit, this is a situation (official, stranger, etc..) at when my shyness/holding back would usually kick in and I might lie and say something like: “I’m on vacation.” Because it would just seem easier that way. He would stamp my form, I would take it and no real interaction would be necessary.

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