The Beauty of Art part 6

Here we go again, it is time for another Beauty of Art quiz!

Just like in part 4 I have chosen a sculpture.

It is quite big: 927 by 891 by 1023 cm to be exact.  Let me know what you know about it and what you think about it!

What is the name of the sculpture?

What is the name of the artist?

Where can this sculpture be found?

and...

How does it make you feel?

A summary of your answers will be posted in the next blog post, including information about when and where I saw this sculpture.

Do women need to be stronger than men?

I recently listened to a documentary on Sveriges Radio P3, called Gamegirl. It is about Mia Westin, a girl who is succesfully playing Counter Strike and streaming herself while doing so. She has many followers and makes money on her stream.

Photo from the documentary in Sveries Radio P3

That is all good and well. But like so many women who are successfull, especially online, Mia receives a lot of sexistic and judgemental comments from men and women who dislike the way she looks, the way she acts, the way she is. Mia stated the following in the program:

"Som tjej tror jag det är tiotusen gånger viktigare att ha ett riktigt starkt psyke. Ha en bra självbild och tro på sig själv." (As a girl I believe it is ten thousand times more important to have a really strong psyche. To have a good self image and believe in one-self.)

Having listened to the documentary I can tell she has a strong psyche and she does not let the haters get to her. Her statement reminded me about what Charlotte Whitton once said:

"Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men, to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."

I agree that it is important for women to have a strong psyche.
I agree that it is harder for a women to be considered competent than it is for men. 

But that does not mean men can (continue to) be mentally weak. Secure and mentally strong men and women do not express hateful comments, they have no reason to pull others down.  The haters are the weak, insecure ones.

To reduce the hate, we need to reduce the fear, reduce the insecurity. We can do that each day, by letting the people around us, especially kids, know how great they already are.

Or, as Mahatma Ghandi put it:

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear. 

It´s my birthday and I´ll write if I want to

If you are like me, or like Jenny in my debut novel, the title will make you hum, silently or out loud, the Lesely Gore hit: It´s my party and I´ll cry if I want to.

Well, it´s my birthday today, but I have no intention of crying. Actually I will be working all day and in the evening I will (I hope) get some home-baked semla from my husband and congratulations from friends and family.

On Saturday we will celebrate some more, and as "the birthday child" I will be able to do whatever I choose. I know exactly what I want to do.

Many people ask me how I find the time to write novels, being a mother of three and working full-time. And when I talk about the hours here and there that I use for writing, they re-phrase the question.

Hur orkar du?  (How do you find the energy?)

That question always makes me smile.

How do I find the energy to write? By writing. Doing what I really like doing, gives me energy.

So when my husband asked me several years ago (when the kids were smaller and needed more or less continuous attention) what I wanted for my birthday, my answer was simple: I want to have a full day to write.

This birthday I will write. If you are curious about what I am currently writing, take a look at Annikas Läsare: Writing.

It´s my birthday and I´ll write since I want to,

write since I want to, 

write since I want to.

You would write to, if you liked it like me!

Your anger does not help

There is a lot of anger going around. Not surprising maybe, since there is a lot to be angry about.

But does spreading your anger to others help?

Does the world get better when you take that piece of news that upsets you, add an angry comment with many exclamations marks after it and share it?

Do you improve the world when you talk over lunch with colleagues about all the things that are wrong in the world and how angry it makes you?

If that is all the action you take, the answer is, in my opinion, no.

Anger and frustration can be great fuel, a kick-start to action that makes a difference. (When I say action I mean something else than tapping on an angry emoji in social media...) You can take action everyday. Help someone. Smile at those around you, greet them. Make a positive difference in someone´s life.

The first time I read about what Stephen Covey calls "the circle of influence" I found it a bit too careful.Why focus only on the circle of influence, when so much of what needs to change in the world happens outside of it? That was before I read the second part of his reasoning.

 If you focus on changing what you can within your circle of influence,your circle of influence expands. 

Of course. If you are the person who takes action, who helps others, who gets things done, people will notice. Your influence will increase.

If you are the annoying, whining, always angry person who seems to do nothing but complain, your influence will shrink.

I hope you will focus your efforts and have the courage to change what you can within your circle of influence. Maybe one day we will both have increased our circles of influence so much that together we can actually change the things that make so many so angry and upset today.