Shut happens!

My colleagues from Think Brigade asked me to create a photo expressing my take on recession. Well, the way we experience (visually at least) the effects of recession is simply a row of empty shops - some of them come, other go, but there is one street off the market square which is really gloomy from that point of you and I pass it every time I need to do some shopping. So here it is!

How do you see recession in your area?

What would your last tweet be?

I have just picked up the current #1LastTweet campaign run by Marie Curie in the UK to raise awareness around dying. I have to admit it IS a difficult, almost tabu topic - who likes to think of their last sentence?! However I think it is extremely important to at least try to shift our focus on the elderly at least sometimes. I do not know how about you but I have a feeling that we tend to respect older people less and less. 

I like the tonality and clear articulation of this campaign.

If you found that difficult or uncomfortable, you're not alone. Dying is not a subject anyone likes thinking about, but it is a part of life.

As a leading provider in end of life care, Marie Curie is taking part in Dying Matters Awareness Week to encourage everyone to talk more openly about death, dying and bereavement.

We believe that talking more openly about dying will help us start planning for the future to ensure that all of us can get the care we need at the end of our lives.

It's simple with rather low entry barrier too, so I am sure it is going to succeed.

All you need to do is post your last tweet or imagine your last Facebook update. (If you check #1LastTweet hashtag you will find few examples already.)

Some of us will take it seriously, others will use it as an occasion to joke, but I am sure we will all THINK about the topic and consider helping organisations like Marie Curie. Well done!

If you need inspiration, let me remind you what some of our tech leaders and bloggers would post as their last tweet:

How do you communicate?

There are so many ways to establish the right relationship with people! I have just seen this video a second ago - and I have to admit that I usually spend at least a few hours re-thinking my posts nowadays - but I would like to share my first impressions on this one because they are very relevant to my day. I had a meeting today. A strange meeting indeed. I usually teach people to use tech and social media more effectively, you see. Today I felt like I was in the right place and the right time but my messages very a bit lost in translation. yet the context of the entire meeting was pretty obvious - the help is needed and it does not seem to be there. So my presence was justified by the mere need for it. I went back to my home-office happy actually. 

The other reason why I am so amazed by this video is...simplicity. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did...I still do...listening to it all over again "as we speak". 

Tell me, do you even feel like the most important is the unspoken? If so, how do you communicate then? And what about the on-line? How do you use social media to "touch" people? 

My 3 things this week - habits, work, the unpredictible

Inspirations - food, books and family

It has been a while since I posted something slightly more personal. As I am coming back to more active blogging and re-gain my work-home balance I have been spending a lot of time...in the library and in the kitchen. Yes, for some of my friends both are pretty shocking. 

First of all I have realised that the lack of a dedicated place for reading and writing kills my creativity. We have been working really hard in finding solutions and finally managed to dedicate a small room (used to be our office) to reading. This new space has brought amazing changes to our family life. My son loves to spend time on one of the two red beanbags and read his books. I cannot help but wonder how fast he is learning - HE CAN READ NOW! What a step towards endless worlds of imagination hidden in pages of his books. My boyfriend has now a place where he can sit down and chill out with a book too. Me - well, I got back to writing and switching off completely. Maybe the books I am reading at the moment (I like to read a few at once) are still related to my work more than anything, but the process is much more enjoyable now that I can stretch on a beanbag, have my cup of coffee and warm, tiny little room just for that activity! 

Secondly, I have managed to put aside my terrible assumptions about complexity of preparing meals. I was never really drawn into the kitchen so all this is pretty new to me. Thanks to Gocha and her kind support on bread making I have baked my first loafs and really enjoyed it! 

This week I sat down and opened a great book on bread making borrowed from my great landlady (who is brilliant in introducing me to British classics!)  - somewhat to combine the two "new" passions only to discover how very basic bread is to humans! I am reading trough the history and skill of bread making. I am spending much more time in local stores learning about various types of bread and flour...Time stops! 

Really, what would the world look like without bread?! 

I like to question things we take for granted. It opens up new worlds to me and reminds me that maybe I am good at what I do for living but what really is important is the respect for what is here and now.