A Christmas Message

Christmas is getting closer, we get excited with decorations, presents and all that stuff – I admit, I love them too, they are part of the Christmas spirit, but I would rather say it is also the ideal time to think about change and make our "every day" more meaningful.

Let me show you a story in a nutshell, presented in this Christmas WWI commercial. It will express what I meant to say. You may find an article about the video here.

I am not going to make an endless morale, but ask you a few questions. What did you always plan to do but never had time? Who are the people that you care about the most? Are they aware of your appreciation? When was the last time you have been happy like a child in front of a new toy? What is the first step that you need to take in order to accomplish your dreams?

I already started writing my Christmas story, I thanked today some persons for their friendships (Facebook application “Thank you” is awesome) and I made someone happy by making an invitation to Christmas decorating.… and I can’t wait to get home and prepare the Christmas Romanian cake, “Cozonac”, with my mother…

Perhaps Christmas stories are not like in the movies; maybe nothing absolutely spectacular will happen but, hey, why not use it as the reason to reconnect with yourself and make every day more special?

Stephansdom in Vienna

Life assumptions?! Time to refresh them!

Have you ever challenged your life assumptions? Have you ever thought about your inner perceptions about the world? If not, then you should give it a thought.

One of the effects that journeys have on me is to bring out my philosophical side and make me more aware of myself. You may wonder why life assumptions are particularly important. I see them as a set of unwritten rules, embedded in you, that govern your individual life and perhaps your social life. There is a theory that I like very much and can be applied here –constructivism -, saying that our identities are socially constructed.  Moreover, it also states that the structure and the agent construct each other.  Applied, these things can mean that the way you see the world shapes your identity and personal structure but, in the same time, you have the power of remodeling your ideas and assumptions. To add on, as long as you have the wrong or just inappropriate perceptions about the world, your social relations are also different and this in turn it affects your identity.

Maybe it seems twisted, but it is actually quite simple. To bring your life assumptions to surface, practically, you just have to think about your own decision-making process, about what makes you happy and sad, and especially about the situations that make you feel uncomfortable. Particularly these last ones have the potential to reveal hidden assumptions. And then, talk! Just find someone that you rely on, that is really close to you and that does not judge you, and talk things out!

It happened to me as well, though it is not to be shared here. However, it was an automatically generated inner idea that I happened to carry with me for years without even realizing.

In the end, it is a journey of self-discovery. Due to the fact that we are increasingly more dynamic every day, we tend to ignore our foundation, our history and the way we have been built. Perhaps it is the right time to give it a closer look and create a better self. 

Need inspiration? 11 TED Talks to make your life more exciting!

What about some inspiration and some fresh ideas about the world? One of my ways to get these things is watching from time to time a TED Talk. Maybe some of you heard about it and perhaps others did not.

Briefly, it is a website/phone application that provides short-length speeches of various persons around the world on a wide range of matters, from technology to researches or day to day life issues. Below, I would like to show you a list with some of my preferred TED Talks, in random order, and a short description of each of them (taken from their website):

1) Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace.

If you’re raised on dogma and hate, can you choose a different path? Zak Ebrahim was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His story is shocking, powerful and, ultimately, inspiring.

2) Making peace is a marathon

In Lebanon there is one gunshot a year that isn’t part of a scene of routine violence: The opening sound of the Beirut International Marathon. In a moving talk, marathon founder May El-Khalil explains why she believed a 26.2-mile running event could bring together a country divided for decades by politics and religion, even if for one day a year.

3) Dare to educate Afghan girls
Imagine a country where girls must sneak out to go to school, with deadly consequences if they get caught learning. This was Afghanistan under the Taliban, and traces of that danger remain today. 22-year-old Shabana Basij-Rasikh runs a school for girls in Afghanistan. She celebrates the power of a family's decision to believe in their daughters — and tells the story of one brave father who stood up to local threats. (Filmed at TEDxWomen)

4) Hackers: the Internet’s immune system
The beauty of hackers, says cybersecurity expert Keren Elazari, is that they force us to evolve and improve. Yes, some hackers are bad guys, but many are working to fight government corruption and advocate for our rights. By exposing vulnerabilities, they push the Internet to become stronger and healthier, wielding their power to create a better world.

5) The Museum of Four in the Morning
Beware: Rives has a contagious obsession with 4 a.m. At TED2007, the poet shared what was then a minor fixation with a time that kept popping up everywhere. After the talk, emails starting pouring in with an avalanche of hilarious references—from the cover of "Crochet Today!" magazine to the opening scene of "The Metamorphosis." A lyrical peek into his Museum of Four in the Morning, which overflows with treasures.

6) On being a woman and a diplomat
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy. Far from being a "soft" issue, she says, women's issues are often the very hardest ones, dealing directly with life and death. A frank and funny Q&A with Pat Mitchell from the Paley Center.

7) Global power shifts
Historian and diplomat Joseph Nye gives us the 30,000-foot view of the shifts in power between China and the US, and the global implications as economic, political and "soft" power shifts and moves around the globe.

8) The key to success? GritLeaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

9) The psychology of your future self"Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished." Dan Gilbert shares recent research on a phenomenon he calls the "end of history illusion," where we somehow imagine that the person we are right now is the person we'll be for the rest of time. Hint: that's not the case.

10) Your phone company is watching
What kind of data is your cell phone company collecting? Malte Spitz wasn’t too worried when he asked his operator in Germany to share information stored about him. Multiple unanswered requests and a lawsuit later, Spitz received 35,830 lines of code — a detailed, nearly minute-by-minute account of half a year of his life.

11) Everyday leadership
We have all changed someone’s life — usually without even realizing it. In this funny talk, Drew Dudley calls on all of us to celebrate leadership as the everyday act of improving each other’s lives.

You might also want to know that TED conferences are organized worldwide so you might have the chance for one to take place actually close to you. Check it out because it is worth taking part in it. I participated at one such event in Bucharest, Romania, about 2 -3 years ago and I really liked the atmosphere - dynamic and bringing in new ideas.

I believe that our preferences show in fact who we are and these stories outline some of my views, each in its own way. For example, they reflect my passion for international relations, my interest in education, my belief in the high value of personal leadership or the importance I give to reflection and understanding yourself. All in all, they are a way of saying “open your mind”, listen, learn from other people’s stories and then act!

What are your favorite TED Talks and what do you like about them? Sharing them in a comment would do perfectly!

Into the spotlight

My name is Anda Radu and I believe in the power of ideas. I am 22 years old, but more I can’t tell you about me. Why? Because my life is so dynamic that it would be impossible to describe a steady activity that I have.  There are so many interesting things happening, so many ideas that come to my mind and a constantly stronger desire and drive to write and to share them with the world.

One may wonder why I chose these words to represent my personal blog: Energy. Ideas. Change. Let me tell you that they are not randomly picked up from the dictionary, but do have a meaning in strong connection with my view upon life, that will also be expressed through this blog.

Energy. Because it embodies the energy that I put in every day of my life, into the ideas that evolve from the grain to the project and eventually into the dreams that later on will become reality. In my opinion, life is worth living only if you invest energy in it… dreams will not come true only with luck, but also with hard work.

Ideas. Because I strongly believe in the power of ideas and information. If we want to have control over our lives, we need to be open-minded, to have the courage to explore new territories, to try new things or simply be informed about what is happening around us. This way, we will become step by step stronger individuals. Dare to think, dare to debate, dare to discover!

Change. Because my entire life is about change. When I was 9 I moved to Campina, when I was 18 I moved to Bucharest, at 20 I lived for two months in Brazil and at 22 I will move again, this time to Vienna. And this is just one example. Positive change is the key to a better future and we should embrace it, not be afraid about it.

I hope that now you understood at least a bit about my mindset. More, you will discover on the way. So, what can you read here? Well, it might be a cool movie or a nice book that inspired me, an important event in my life that triggered some ideas, a trip that I did and much more. You will also have the chance to see the perspectives of a Romanian that is moving to Vienna – challenges, discoveries, maybe advice. However, it all depends on how life will turn out to be for me. Nevertheless, always expect something positive.

All these being said, I embark on a life-long journey by writing this blog. I know when and where to start, but I have no idea where it will end. I will put all my energy, gather all my ideas and make this journey a life-changing one!