A forgotten cup of tea

I recently picked up my old habit of painting. Several nights in a row, when the kids have gone to bed, I bring out my trusty old iPad pro with the pencil and start sketching. I bring a cup of tea to the table to complete the little ritual. It’s been over three years now since I stopped painting regularly and sometimes it is perhaps a good idea to take a break, because I am having a ton of fun now when I picked up the pencil again. I have entered the magical flow state many times lately. I know this for a fact, because I have found myself time and time again with a cup of cold tea next to me.

HabitsRikard ÖqvistAugust 29, 2024flow, focus, habits, painting, attentionComment

A good conversation

Monday evenings is writing night for me. I’ve been doing it for several years straight. And still, here I am, half past eleven when I should been in bed long time ago, blogging together this week’s piece. For some reason, I often end up in “talking mode” with my wife on Mondays, which is easily the worst day of the week to sit down and talk. Because I know that it is my sleep hours that will fuel the conversation. On the other hand, you will be hard pressed to find anything more meaningful way to spend your time than deep conversations with your wife. And thus, it is probably a price worth paying.

Diary, Parenting, PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistNovember 7, 2022flow, conversation, marriage, kids, habitsComment

When the universe smiles at you

There’s a Swedish saying “En olycka kommer sällan ensam” (When it rains, it pours). If that is true, the opposite must also be true, but I don’t know any similar saying by heart. So, I prefer to think of it as if the universe is smiling at you. Because it sometimes feels as if the whole universe conspires to help you. When I have had those positive experiences, the typical scenario is that I am extremely stressed out about something, and then suddenly the problem just solves itself without attention. Yes, sometimes the best solution to a problem can simply be to just ignore it. Last week I experienced one of the most enjoyable smiles so far.

PhilosophyRikard ÖqvistOctober 18, 2021luck, flow, productivity, stress, pressure, consulting, planningComment

Can we hypnotize ourselves?

Many of you (including my past self), perhaps think of the entertainers on TV when you think of hypnosis. Not of something that you can use yourself daily. Have you ever experienced that feeling where you are so immersed in something that you are not aware of your surroundings any longer? People can stand right next to you, talking to you, and you don’t hear a single word of what they say. As a musician, I have had this experience several times, however I never chose to enter that state of trance by willpower. It was something that just happened. The idea of hypnotising myself came from a podcast I have started to follow called “Your mind is trying to kill you”, hosted by Alexandros Megas and Vincent Byrne. I was captivated by the thought of entering trance by willpower alone and have been experimenting with it for some weeks now. It turns out it works wonders!