Thanks!

Dank

Je komt wat brengen
We hebben wat te delen, te geven en mee te nemen
We mochten ervaren....
We reflecteren en komen tot de ontdekking.....

Dat alles wat we kwamen brengen goed is aangekomen
Speels, open en vrij, vanuit liefde oprecht gegeven
Wij danken alle deelnemers voor deze onvergetelijke en wonderbaarlijke ervaring
          

De ervaring
    van
  Verbinding

Thanks

We came to bring something
We all have something to share, give, and to take
We were able to experience......
We reflect and realize.....

That everything that we came to bring has touched base
Playful, open and free and given from true love
We thank all the participants for this unforgettable and Remarkable experience

 

The experience

of

Connection

 

 

We are back in the Netherlands. Please stay connected for more information about our upcoming fundraising event.

Peggy-Jane & Karel

Remarkable Dream Value(c)

Having spent time in India we now are ready to apply all the lessons to our day to day lives. There is so much correlation between what is happening in this pressure cooker and in a business environment.

Observation – Create Remarkable Dream Value

The participants at IISE all had their own struggles in their lives, which did not withhold them from stepping up to the plate and make a change. They came to India from 16 different countries to learn how to convert their dream to action. With all participants it is the intrinsic motivation, the passion for their cause that drives them to great heights. It is not about them, not their ego, they truly are here for a higher purpose.

What if we apply that to business? We believe that if people start working from their dream, their own passion, and apply that to the work they are doing, great things can happen. A lot of times business planning cycles and strategy sessions start with a SWOT analysis, a high level strategy, but often lacks one critical thing. The connection to the dreams and passion of the people who have to implement the strategy. Our Remarkable process focuses on just that. We know…. Dreaming sounds vague…. But wasn’t there someone in history that started his speech with “I have a dream”? And look what happened. If we allow ourselves to dream, turn the dreams into actions, we can create value. Social and economic value. We call it Remarkable Dream Value© (RDV).


Observation – Focus on the higher goal

We had to let go of a lot of our assumptions, adjust our plans, and allow ourselves to just go with the lessons we were offered each day. Sometimes we did hit a rough patch, but by keeping our focus on the end game, and the higher goal of us being here, we kept the energy flowing.

In business we often find that we tend to get lost in the details. We start with a plan. Make a detailed project description, and assign roles and responsibilities. Everyone knows exactly what to do, and believes he or she exists because of the role he or she needs to play. But what if things works out differently? We get confused. Roles are often changed, and ego’s start to play up. If we focus on our higher goals that are bigger than ourselves, that is when machine really starts to run.


Observation – Stay true to yourself

Did you ever sit in a presentation and had your mind wandering off? That is what happens when the presenter does not reach you. That is definitely not the case in the sessions we have witnessed here in Kerala. The people we were blessed to work with had stories about the challenges they faced in life. And by helping them present their stories in a way that they stay close to their authentic self, the messages came alive. It is really amazing what happens if a presentation is coming straight from the heart.

Our lesson when we started to think about this is simple. If you have to present something, make sure to embrace the story with all your heart. When the story is coming from your authentic self, it is guaranteed to reach your audience. Stay true to yourself.


Peggy-Jane & Karel

Bodem

Op reis

Ver weg

Op reis naar huis

Een reis naar binnen naar mijn eigen ik

Een reis naar binnen en dan weer terug

Ik heb mijn bodem gevonden

Kan nu staan en voel de grond

Zacht en warm is de aarde, zacht en warm zoals ze onder mijn voeten voelt

Het kriebelt tussen mijn tenen, ik moet lachen met een kleine traan

Ik ben op reis, ver weg...

Een reis naar binnen en dan weer terug

Ik heb hier ook een thuis gevonden waar ik mijzelf vinden kan

Diep geraakt en vol tederheid, vouw ik mijn handen samen

Namaste

Is het woord waar ze in India elkaar mee begroeten

Ik ga je straks verlaten

Ga op reis

Ver weg

Op reis, terug naar huis

En ook daar zal ik je vinden

Op reis

Ver weg

Op reis naar binnen, naar mijn eigen ik

Sluit ik in stilte nu mijn ogen

(English translation)

Ground

I am on a journey

Far away

On a journey to my home

On a journey to my inner self, and back again

I have found ground underneath my feet

I can finally stand and feel the ground

Soft and warm is the earth

Soft and warm she feels while she tickles my feet

I can feel the sand rubbing through my toes 

She makes me laugh with a single tear

On a journey

Far away...

A journey to my inner self and back again

I have found a place which I can also call my home

Deeply touched with love and tenderness I slowly fold my hands

Namaste

I have to leave soon

I am going on a journey

On a journey that will bring me back home

It is there where I will find you

On a journey far away

On a journey to my authentic self

And in silence I close my eyes

Dream carefully

The last weeks flew by, and now that our last sessions are near, sad feelings surround our bodies and we try to focus on that what is and not on that what is yet to come.... A challenge on it self. The thought of leaving comes hard and makes our energy heavy and hard to carry. Therefore we challenge our mind to be focused on that what we still can do, and try to enjoy and embrace all the moments we are receiving.

Working in private sessions with the participants has made our connections even closer and with each of them we have connected in our own way.

They have stolen our hearts and gave us the ground to plant a Remarkable seed of connection. All their stories are so inspiring, the willingness to take all the sessions in, and be there with such an open mind and sparkling energy.

All what we have felt and experienced is hard to explain in words.

Our journey started with a single dream, and we dreamed big, and see where it took us.  It took us to India, Kerala "Gods own Country". 

What a great place to start.....

Working with 18 beautiful people from 16 nationalities.

So dream carefully; one participant said:
"With care and fully"
Be careful what you wish for, because it might be your reality soon.

Words do not even come close to what we feel.

We invite you to our journey through pictures and this beautiful song, which was given to us by one of the participants.

Peggy-Jane & Karel

 

Participant Quote of the Day

"I am not a Handsome

But I can give my HAND to SOME one who needs support."

Raja from India

Intimacy

"Into Me I See. 

Through the eyes of another you can see yourself."

By giving private sessions to the participants, and using their own authentic input we get inspired to hand out tools, feedback & information.

It is a way of communicating with that what is and that what comes to the service in that particular time and place.

It is playing with the synchronicity of live, that what is happening in the moment. It is their willingness to be open for feedback, and using it to take things to another level.

By sharing, getting real and truly speak from their guts, the stories of the participants touched our hearts.

Our sessions were focused on body and stage awareness, innovative thinking, and guiding them to convert their dreams into a business and financial plan.

Through our sessions of body and stage awareness, we try to hand out tools how to stand and act within their own strength, using their own true stories and being their authentic self to bring their message across.

In the sessions about finance we have given them information about the approach to start with a business plan, and structuring it in such a way that a well thought through "financial" plan can be developed.

The mission, vision & goals that all of the participants have are so much bigger than themselves. It is remarkable how each and every one of them has overcome their battles in live, and found a way to get up and make a stand.

All of the participants have their own story to tell.

They all relate to there higher purpose.

To help people grow, learn and inspiring others to do the same.

We deeply make a bow for all the participants of the IISE 2011 class. We are so proud to be here, and to find so much love and willingness to share this with us.

For us it has been a live chancing experience.

What we once had in our mind, our dream and vision to be Remarkable, is now true and reality.

Peggy-Jane & Karel 

True Colors

What do we do??

To give a sense of the Remarkable process…

We start our morning sessions with uplifting music and welcome everybody with a personal “good morning”. We continue with a round of check in, which gives the participants time to reflect on the previous session, or a moment to share anything that comes to mind. And that can be anything. A song, a poem, a speech, or anything they would like to share with the group. It is their moment; their moment to claim their fame. A so called lifetime opportunity to take the stage and say something!

Our Remarkable process fits in perfectly within the program off IISE. It is mind blowing to see and experience that our creative approach towards these new entrepreneurs is useful, real, and valuable.

Working with (partially) blind people is a great experience and challenges us to also get out of our own comfort zone, and look at what is needed to explain our vision, goals and set up of the sessions.

To get your message across it is a great advantage if you can describe things in detail. Like a true artist who paints his painting in great detail, we create space for others to make their story and connection with the material.

Besides playing, singing and dancing "getting the creative engine running" we look at all the participants pitch performances & presentation techniques.

Listening to their dreams, goals, higher goals, and what is needed to reach them.

Everybody has something to bring, take and give.

And its up to each an everyone of them to decide in time, place and mind, which tools the are going to use, take, share, pass on in their life, work and relationships.

We truly believe that you can be, get or reach anything you want in life if you believe and embrace your authentic self. It is through mutual connection, respect, and playfulness we have been able to successfully do our job.

We have received so many heart felt stories, songs and uplifting session. Therefore we thank the participants.

For us it is trusting on that what is. That what is necessary will rise to the surface to reveal it self.

If we would had stuck to our "so called plan", we would have never made it, in what we now can call a true Remarkable feeling.

Our lessons are here, right here at our feet, with the participants who guide, challenge, and teach us. Gladly they brought them self to the middle, had the courage to dive in, and take what they need. And give what they have to give, and that on it self to us is Remarkable.

Come Back to the Middle

Peggy-Jane & Karel

NOTE to the readers & Participant quote of the day

NOTE: If you receive new blogs by email, please be aware that some video's and attachments included in the blog, are not visible in the email message. If you want to see it all, go to www.remarkablefoundation.com.


The quote of the day is:

"Living in this life without understanding the meaning of it, it is like wandering around in the great library without touching any books."

 Lukkette from Thailand

Enjoying the journey

The last 2 weeks we have jumped on this riding train and it has been moving full speed ahead. Our first goal was to get to know the participants and determine where they stood in their own learning process. We used different exercises to get the energy flowing, setting the standard for the group dynamic.

We received a lot of compliments. "you did a great job!" And as a result we set a very high standard for are self and the following lessons to come!! Holy cow!!! 

By getting real, “dropping the waterline”, sharing life stories, experience, diversity, sad & happy moments, we created a safe place for the group (including ourselves). A safe playground to ignite their own creativity to support innovative thinking. With dancing, singing, making music and writing songs, the tone was set! Can you imagine al the great stories we have received? We are blessed to work with a group from 16 nationalities/personalities.

All stories are different but we all have one thing in common: 

the ability to dream

And it is there where the clear vision reveals it self.

The participants all started to open up and started to share their stories and dreams, which we don't take lightly. We know that we are only passing by in this one year project. We can only say that we are so proud to be hear at IISE, and that we have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful inspiring people.

Sabriye and Paul are both the anchor points of this institute and they have managed to build a sustainable innovative institute which creates a platform for those who are willing to take the chance to make a change.

The IISE took the risk to:

Giving us the change to dream, create and letting us be Remarkable.

And what a feeling to experience that the pieces of the puzzle truly fit!!!!!

It is there:

Where all are talents, vision, passion all come together and gets bigger than our self.

It is that energy where true potential can be found to make things happen.

Peggy-Jane & Karel

Participant quote of the day

We have been touched by the inspiring people at IISE. We would like to share with you a daily quote. The first quote...

"It is much easier to pull someone or lend them a hand up(wards), than it is to push them up."
quote originally from Harv Eker

Marguerite from USA

Getting Real

The process of letting go is as real and true as the lessons we try to give & teach here in India. While putting the participants through the Remarkable creative process of getting their dream vision clear, we are challenging them to go out of their comfort zone and dropping their waterline by getting real, so they can tell and share their stories.

We of course do the same!!!

We both are working on are own living document, our own personal Remarkable vision!

Which is a great experience, full off challenging, deep dive moments, which confront us with our own wants, needs, thoughts and convictions.

We can truly say that it is an amazing process. We experienced that if you are able to get real and say what is in your heart, it will come back to you in forms you can not even imagine.

We have been touched by great people, stories and ideas which brings us right at the core of are believes, that what we dream is real & true!

 

We are on the right path of our Remarkable journey. 

Getting things done to get to this point, was a challenge in it self.

Getting in and out of tuk tuks, (fearing for our own life :0), we had to find our way through the city to get all the materials we needed for the workshops.

And what you know and expect is all what it is not!!

The pace of live and the rhythm of the city is one that you have to get used to.

If you would normally get 10 things done in a day, we now are happy if we can make 2 things work. So therefore the lesson in being patient is hard to ignore!

Also the tool of making deals and putting up a theatre show to bargain the price is a big laugh, but necessary and considered rude if you don't!

So after our first week of preparation we finally started are first session!

What a blast!!!!! Our cheeks are still glowing, wow! (wat is dit te gek!!!)

We fully took the deep dive into our Remarkable process and still are taking in the remarkable heart felt compliments and great inspiring feedback which they shared with us.

One of the participants shared the following feedback with us: 

"The Remarkable workshop brought me to a deeper level about myself and others. Sharing my authentic self with my fellow participants has given me a lot of clarity about my own goals."

It is through connection & sharing we have been able to recognize our selves and feel that what we do is Remarkable!

Thanks for following us!

Peggy-Jane & Karel

* Wat is *

 Wanneer ik loslaat en vertrouw op dat wat er is,

ontvouwt het leven zich als een raadsel.

Waarvan ik nooit had gedacht of verwacht,

dat ik het antwoord ooit zou vinden.

Ik wist nog niet hoe de dingen zouden gaan verlopen, 

hier in India.

De hoge eisen die ik mijzelf stelde,

de voorbereiding, het moeten weten,

heb ik in rust naast me neergelegd en losgelaten.

Net als dat het regenseizoen zich niet laat regisseren,

komt ze als gelegen om de vermoeiende hitte af te blussen.

De aarde komt op adem,

en zoekt haar verkoeling in de lauw warme regendrup.

Ik ben zo blij dat ik hier ben, en dat ik mag ervaren,

dat wat is....

is perfect.

* What is *

When I let go and truly trust in that what is…

Life unfolds itself as a riddle, of which I never imagined that I would ever find the answer.

I did not know how things would turn out, once I arrived in India.

I peacefully put aside the high expectations that I put on myself, all my preparations, and the pressure of “I must know”.

Like the rain season itself, which can not be directed, 

she comes as a blessing to soothe the tiring heat.

Finally earth can catch her breath, and treasures her own cooldown in the warm raindrops.

I am so glad that I am finally here,

I am thankful that I can embrace the experience,

of that what is….

is perfect.

The Remarkable experience of Celebrating the Difference

Welcome to Kerala, God’s own country.

The warm air welcomes you, hits you like a wall, and embraces your body immediately. The crowded little airport where people are waiting to pick up their loved ones, friends, relatives, business partners and so on, is overwhelming. Between the hundreds of self-written names boards, we tried to find our names. Realizing what they consider organized and clear, to us looked like complete chaos. We ask ourselves when we are sitting in the car, how do they do it? People everywhere, cars honking, tuktuks rushing, scooters racing by, different odors coming in and out of your nose, the unfamiliar sounds, the heat that beats against our skin, our bodies trying to fight off the tiredness, and yet again absorbing all the new experiences that we are taking in like a sponge.

“Holy cow, we are in India!!”

After being in this little tornado we step into a tuktuk, of which we thought we would never come out of alive. It brought us safely to our house, which we can call our home for the time that we are here.  

Throughout our preparation for our visit, we had our own thoughts and fantasies about the city (which turned out to be a village), the access to certain things, the expectation of being mobile, internet/mobile phone, the campus, the house we were staying in. It all turned out different then we thought. Without knowing what to expect, we immediately felt we had to readjust our reference. This was our first Remarkable experience. 

We challenge ourselves to celebrate all the beautiful differences,
and to embrace it with open eyes.

With sweaty greetings from Kerala!

Peggy-Jane & Karel

PS from PJ:

My heart got overwhelmed by emotions before I even hit the ground of India. The man next to me in the plane said “Welcome to Kerala. Welcome to God’s own country! Tears welled up in my eyes, and I thanked the man with a smile. I found the perfect place to spread out a part of my mom’s ashes.

Lieve mam, welkom in God’s own country, tot tussen de sterren*

If you can dream it, you can achieve it!

Our Remarkable Story

Our journey started 2 Months ago when we met for the first time. During this meeting it became clear that we shared the same passion. We talked about our backgrounds and the things we were working on. Peggy-Jane was very eager to start working with her ideas around making people finding their true passion by using a creative coaching process. Karel was in the middle of writing his book interviewing a number of people, and concluding that it was time to start doing. Peggy-Jane and Karel took on this challenge and asked Gert to join. Our vision was to create the Remarkable Foundation to offer people a process to become proud of who they are, find their true potential, and realize their dreams. All three of us have our own stories to tell about why we are passionate about Remarkable. The stories are different, but our dreams are the same. We want to bring different worlds together.

The first step in our Remarkable Story is the ‘creative dream visioning’ workshop we will facilitate in India in June. In addition to visioning, we want to ensure that people to whom we offer this process, will get the funding to actually kick start their dreams. Specifically for the India workshop, we will be organizing a fund raising event later this year.
 

Over the last two months we had many, many people helping us in getting our Remarkable Foundation started. We are so grateful for all the help we have received! It enabled us to 'hit the ground running' and start doing. But before we start blogging about our experiences in India, we would like to thank:

·      Monique Verkuilen from AKD for preparing the deed of foundation for Stichting Remarkable

·    Henk Jan Smits, Bas van der Heuvel, and Annika Bos, for creating a beautiful Remarkable song (more on that later!)  www.soundwisestudio.nl  

·    Paul, Vincent, Marco & supporting team from Touch Creative who
created our logo, and helped us with various communication materials
www.touchcreative.nl

·    Helen den Held, from the Deloitte Foundation who has given us the funding for our pilot project in India 

.    Yvonne and Rich Dutra St. John, founders of Challenge day, for sharing the Challenge Day training materials (www.challengeday.org)

·    Katja Schuurman, Maarten Ras, en Marije Schasfoort for helping us with sharing their experience with setting up Return to Sender

·    Karl van Houten, from www.camerakoning.nl who sponsored 5 video camera's that we can use in our project

·    Raymond from, De-Streng, for sponsoring our first Label order. www.de-streng.nl

·    Het Tattelljee, voor rest materialen www.tatteljee.nl

·    Dolf, from ASP giving support and access to their training materials

·    Salem Samhoud, and Marjan Companjen from &Samhoud who have sent us 150 balls of connection

·    Henno, from www.youngworks.nl giving feedback, support & sharing training materials

·    Ingrid Tappin, who took the time to brainstorm with us around our social media plan

·    Kieu for last minute sewing advice

·    Sandra, for designing the ring of connection

       

And of course our partners who have been putting up with our crazy work schedule, and who have been supporting us from the day we started!

Yes, we are going to India. Our first project will be at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs. We are incredibly thankful for this opportunity and really eager to get started.

About the IISE

The International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) in Trivandrum, Kerala (South India) operates under the umbrella of Braille without Borders Charitable Trust (BWB). BWB was co-founded by Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg in 2005. In January 2009, the IISE welcomed its first batch of 20 participants. IISE creates credible and effective leaders for positive social change across the world. The eleven month experiential program driven by catalysts helps them set up social projects that improve the quality of blind, visually impaired people and marginalized target groups in an earth-respecting environment that promotes leadership, collaboration and positive social change. The IISE focuses on leadership training in order to create social change through innovation.

We invite you to join our Remarkable journey by following our blog.
Follow us, we welcome your support!

We are living our dream.
Come dream with us!

Peggy-Jane, Karel, Gert