“If you’re willing to be disturbed and confused, I recommend that you begin a conversation with someone who thinks differently than you do. Listen as best you can for what’s different, for what surprises you. Try and stop the voice of judgment or opinion. Just listen. At the end of this practice, notice whether you learned anything new. Notice whether you developed a better relationship with the person you talked with. If you try this with several people, you might find yourself laughing in delight as you realize how many unique ways there are to be human.“
Meg Wheatley

Isn’t this great food for thought?

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Food for thought = something worth thinking seriously about

Would you like to test yourself?

Take a look at these punctuation marks and see if you know what they’re called in English.

1. .
2. ,
3. :
4. ;
5. –
6. —
7. ( )
8. ‘
9. ” “
10. [ ]
11. ?
12. !
13. &
14. /
15. _
16. @

1. full stop or period
2. comma
3. colon
4. semicolon
5. hyphen
6. dash
7. brackets or parentheses
8. apostrophe
9. quotation marks
10. square brackets
11. question mark
12. exclamation mark or point
13. ampersand
14. slash
15. underscore
16. at sign

So how did you do?

PS The position of the quotation marks in English is different to German. Take a look here: “Quotation marks”.

The world’s first library of things looks very much like the photo I’ve posted here.

The Share Shed, based in Devon (UK), has over 350 items that members can borrow, including: tools, household appliances, camping and gardening equipment, sewing machines, suitcases and much more.

Members pay an annual membership fee and can then borrow items for a reasonable sum of money (from £5 to £50).

It’s a great way for people to save money, space and resources, to reduce clutter, and to support a more collaborative and sustainable lifestyle.

I would have borrowed a suitcase for my return journey from Hamburg, because I came back with a suitcase, two rucksacks and holdall!

Is there anything you would borrow?

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shed = Schuppen
clutter = Gerümpel, Krimskrams

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of your time in front of your computer screen.

I used to work with business professionals in companies. Although I spent a lot of time sitting in other people’s offices and meeting rooms, I did travel around a fair bit. That meant that I walked to and from my car several times a day. 😉

But today most of my work is online. And although I go out for an hour’s walk, swing on my bike or do exercises on most days, I often forget to get up and stretch every so often.

And there are so many benefits. Stretching removes tension in our bodies, can help us think clearer— and improves our postures and physical performance. I’m sure there are more.

So how can we best remember to stretch during the day? 

I’ve been thinking of setting an alarm or posting sticky notes to remind me.  

Do you have any tips or suggestions?

Look at the photo.

If I were to ask you where my glasses are, how would you reply?

Just take a second to form your sentence.

What I often hear is ‘in the near’. So if you wanted to say that my glasses are “in the near’ of the pool, I’d have to tell you that we wouldn’t normally say that in English.

So what is correct?

‘My glasses are near the pool’. Short and sweet!

You want to know where I live? In the near of Near Heinsberg! 😉

I hope that helps!

“Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.”
Amy Edmondson

Amy was the first person to identify and study psychological safety, a concept you might have heard about again and again.

What can we do to help our online participants feel accepted and respected, so that they are willing to share their thoughts and opinions freely?

We can:

– try to promote openness by asking participants to share something they are grateful for,
– invite people to speak up and talk openly about their emotions,
– ask participants not to interrupt others,
– create breakout rooms, allowing smaller groups to talk more easily, and
– use polls, yes/no tools, and raise hand and chat features.

Do you have any ideas to add?