I Love Women

There's something magical about strong women that makes me deeply admire them. I feel inspired every time I come across of a story of a woman who has lived a remarkable life, made career, raised children and most importantly -- speaks words of wisdom.

While I was making research about the best education innovators in the world I came across a lady named Nel Noddings. Chances are you've never heard of her, but just reading her story and ideas gave me goosebumps.

Being a mom of 10 children and married for more than half a century is an overachievement for most of the women. Being a mom can easily become an excuse to cover up so common fears, doubts and self-criticism that most of the women have. "Oh, I didn't have time for all of this, I was raising my kids." Which much too often actually means: "I never dared to dream more."

And then there are women like Nel Noddings who defy the odds, remain chilled, cheerful and relaxed while bringing up their kids and building a marriage -- and also make an outstanding contribution to the world. This article was my sheer moment of inspiration from today.

And even reading her bio from Wiki gave me a boost of energy. What a legacy to leave to the world! I'd love to know your thoughts on her story.

"Nel Noddings worked in many areas of the education system. She spent seventeen years as an elementary and high school mathematics teacher and school administrator, before earning her PhD and beginning work as an academic in the fields of philosophy of education, theory of education and ethics, specifically moral education and ethics of care.

She became a member of the Stanford faculty in 1977, and was the Jacks Professor of Child Education from 1992 until 1998. While at Stanford University she received awards for teaching excellence in 1981, 1982 and 1997, and was the associate dean or acting dean of the School of Education for four years.

After leaving Stanford University, she held positions at Columbia University and Colgate University. She is past president of the Philosophy of Education Society and the John Dewey Society. In 2002-2003 she held the John W. Porter Chair in Urban Education at Eastern Michigan University. She has been Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University since she retired in 1998.

Nel Noddings has 10 children and in 2004 had been married for 54 years. She has described her early educational experiences and her close relationships as key in her development of her philosophical position."

Hey, Superhero, Do Your Magic! (Yes, YOU!)

My self worth is directly connected with my contribution. The less I contribute the less worthy I feel -- and the opposite: the more I'm doing what I can and should do, the more confident and fulfilled I feel.

You're born with a unique set of natural talents -- and you just gotta use it. If at certain point of your life you started to believe that you're actually not good enough to do this or that and started to settle with less -- you're directly harming your self worth.

In order to feel deeply fulfilled you just gotta do the extraordinary -- because you can and you should. You have all it takes to stand out, to inspire, to deliver awesome stuff and to simply take the breathe away from others and yourself. The belief that you're not capable is a lie, that's it.

So if you have one of these days where you feel you're not really happy about yourself -- then maybe you should review your contribution. If your contribution hasn't really created outstanding results you could describe as achievements, then you're not living up to your potential.

Simple -- it's not that you're stupid or that you can't, it's just that you're not doing it. You need to keep contributing every day to be connected with the superior side of your being. The superhero in you wants to shine, it wants to use the magic powers you have -- whatever it is that you've got.

So this one is for doing what we should be doing, no matter what the day brings, no matter what's going on around us, no matter what bad habits we have, what our friends are proposing. Simply doing what you should do today and let the superhero rock'n'roll.

Does that makes the same sense for you as it makes for me or am I just too "out there" this time? Haha, I'm so wired up to do my job today, I'm literally thirsty for success:)

PS: All you superheros out there, hope you receive the positive vibe I'm sending out right now. Your e-mails, Facebook notes and comments are just so much appreciated that you have no idea, thank you so much for keep coming to my blog!

I'm Here and I'm Becoming

Me and Maru have been living in Malaysia for 7 months now. I've never been that far away from my home and I've never been that long time away from home.

Yet, in many ways, the longer I stay away the closer I get -- to myself, my freedom, my dreams and strength, my fears and weaknesses. Also my country.

I'm more independent than ever, I have more clarity and inner strength than ever -- and I'm breaking through the internal barriers that I didn't even know that I had -- small country thinking, my old beliefs, learning to stand up for myself and raise my voice. And I'm facing some new kind of questions that I didn't have before -- what are my true values and beliefs, what is money for me, what is family and community for me...and many others.

I miss Estonia, the people -- my people... the places, the moments at these places. But I also don't really miss anything, I don't desire anything else more than this very moment.

This very moment is so precious and full that I'm hardly able to perceive the moments outside of it. People come and go, places vary, everything is changing. I'm changing and becoming.

Life is so simple, really.

My mind can be my greatest enemy once it starts thinking alternatives to the things that I already know. There are not really many answers I need -- all I need is a dream and this moment to notice how this is getting me to my dream.

I don't need to feel the pain for the unbuilt schools that I'm going to build, the longing for the lover thats coming this weekend, the shame of my incapability of not being able to deliver the same result that I have in my vision.

I'm here right now with what I have and I'm becoming of what I dream to become.

R.I.P MJ

I'm watching Michael Jackson funeral right now over the CNN live.

What's amazing about this event is the interactivity with the audience. Everyone who's watching it over the internet can see the stream of Facebook status updates of other viewers. The result is a live conversation between the readers.

Instead of listening to the journalists giving their non-stop perspective of what's going on you can simply draw conclusions of what this event really means from reading what people are saying about it at this very moment. There's everything -- big emotions (I'm gonna cry all night), good wishes (RIP), memories of MJ, comments on the funeral (wow, I could see the golden coffin from the car window!), regrets (wish I could be there), daydreaming (what if he would jump out of the coffin right now and start beating?? How cool would that be?) etc.

And some people just get very excited about having the chance to actually get involved like this at this event.

It's amazing, really -- bringing together Michael Jackson fan-base like this at his funeral is truly significant. Offline and online get mixed -- welcome future!