By chance, I have read a brilliant post: “Launch A 365-Day Project In 2013” by Marelisa Fabrega. In her post, she encourages and offers 25 ideas for 365 day project. Some ideas enhance and better our lives, like spending 1 hour or some time everyday with our love (wife, kids), or meditate, exercise or take a walk every day for a year; some ideas focus on create and realize our goals and dreams, i.e. spend 1 hour on writing novel, posts or start own business. There are also some unusual and fun ideas like documenting 2013 with a photo a day, cooking a recipe dish a day or talk to someone new everyday….
No matter what comes to your mind for your 365 day project, enjoy and fun with it 🙂 Take the project from a positive, serving a better you (in relationship, health, wealth, career…) perspective and enriching your every day life. It’s important that what you have chosen to do for the coming 364 day is (are) exactly what you want and strongly desire for; because it takes lasting commitment of 364 days to make it successful!
Hsing’s 365 day project – (a) eating a fruit every day for a year and (b) 15 minutes meditation per day;
Loic’s 365 day project – (a) TBD.
3 hours from each player, set aside for fun! (no interruptions, i.e. phone calls, SMS and no subsequent arrangement)
Preparation 2:
Use the post-it, each writes down 6 questions (1 question per sheet) relating areas of sexual desire, love, intimacy…etc., that you are curious about your partner. Once you have completed writing, fold the post-it inwards 3 times, so that writings inside the post-it are not visible from outside. Put them in the bowl. The questions are designed to get to know each other more; not to put your partner in an accusation stand (i.e. why do you want me to….) or in a difficult situation (i.e. out of all your ex, who do you love the most). Remember it’s about you and your partner, not with anyone else. Good examples are: (questions start with ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’)
What would you like me to do more in bed that makes you feel good?
When do you feel most intimate or close to your partner?
Write down the following 8 questions or happy-to-do in separate 8 post-it sheets and mix well with your 12 pieces of post-it in the bowl.
Name 1 sensual part of your own body and ask your partner to lick the part with the remaining minutes
Ask your partner to share intimate thoughts with you by you start saying: “Trust me that you are safe with me emotionally, share with me how you feel lately”
Express gratitude on 5 things your partner has done for you lately
Name 3 aspects or reasons that your partner is sexy in your point of view
Kiss and breath all over your partner’s face, except your partner’s mouth
Name 5 qualities in your partner that attract you very much
Say 3 things that you would want your partner to know right now
Apologize to your partner for 3 things you have neglected or wouldn’t have done lately
Set the timer for 3 minutes
Game On:
Decide who will go first; the first person picks a post-it from the bowl
Use up full 3 minutes (with the help of a timer) to answer the question or to perform the happy-to-do task on the post-it.
It’s possible that you have picked your own post-it; this is perfectly fine. Your partner would not mind to know more about you with your own questions.
Then change turn, the second person repeats no.1-3 above.
Remember: the objective is to have fun, be open and honest as much as possible to each other, be brave to try the happy-to-do and share your inner emotions, as well as to have sex and intimacy at the same time. Hope both of you have fun!!
Below are 30 days of actions for your reference. Some may be more challenging and appealing than others, dare yourself out of comfort zone and see what the act of love making may bring you! There may be some surprises waiting for you! Give them a try and have fun!!
Day 1 – write a love note and put into your partner’s shirt pocket or hand bags
Day 2 – tell your partner you love him or her
Day 3 – invite your partner to bathe or take a shower together
Day 4 – express your gratitude towards your partner through a piece of cake
Day 5 – write a note with at least 5 qualities that your partner has that you appreciate
Day 6 – prepare a nice meal for your partner
Day 7 – entice sex life with special lingerie or outfit
Day 8 – be at the door when your partner returns from work, give a deep welcome home hug
Day 9 – give a goodbye kiss when your partner leaves for work, wishing him or her a nice day
Day 10 – give your partner a sexual message, email or SMS during the day (be spontaneous and a little wild)
Day 11 – give a word of encouragement
Day 12 – let your partner know you are here for him or her
Day 13 – organize a lunch date together, make efforts to meet up
Day 14 – ask your partner how has his or her day been and prepare to listen
Day 15 – tell your partner a surprise awaits at home when he or she returns from work; and welcome your partner home naked
Day 16 – find a song dedicate it to your partner, expressing how you feel about him or her
Day 17 – surprise your partner by taking him or her out to dinner tonight
Day 18 – give your partner a foot massage
Day 19 – take your partner out to enjoy a spa/theater/exhibition/movie/stand-up comedy… (depending what your partner normally like to do)
Day 20 – send a flower to your partner’s office (if you have male partner, give it a try; he may enjoy the attention brought by the flowers received)
Day 21 – tell your partner your sexual fantasy or what you like about your partner in bed
Day 22 – do something for your partner (that he or she has been asking you to do)
Day 23 – give your partner a shoulder rub or message
Day 24 – in bed 10 minutes before your partner; get naked and put some music on..
Day 25 – give your partner at least 20 kisses throughout the whole day today
Day 26 – pamper and give your partner a small gift
Day 27 – write your partner a love letter expressing what he or she has made you realized or learnt about love and relationship; also tell how important he or she is in your life
Day 28 – give your partner a head message
Day 29 – try a different position in making love
Day 30 – tell your partner one incident where he or she touches your heart deeply
Day 31 – love the way you want with your own style
What or whom you spend most of your quality time with is the love of our life~
So what and whom do you spend most of your quality time with? Your work, managing your wealth or with the love ones (i.e. partner and or children), families or on your health, having pleasures or…. Do you allocate your time based on the urgency of the subjects or their importance? Notice how easily or reluctantly when you shift the reserved time for one subject and subsequently change to another, i.e. shift time for exercise to watching TV instead or sacrifice the time with families for another hour at work and so on.
For a couple who lives together, they most likely have 7 hours together, assuming 9 hours for work, 8 hours for sleeping and no other social activities. It seems lots of hours spent together, but it doesn’t mean they have good quality time together. Couple talks to each other on daily trivial matters (i.e. what to eat tonight, who is to do the dishes), on common interests (i.e. where to go for the weekend or holiday) and responsibilities (i.e. children education, pet disciplines); perhaps only occasionally talks and shares about their inner thoughts and feelings if situations allow. How many couples you know that actually allocate a couple quality time once a week together?
Couple attracts to each other at first due to their looks, personalities and characters, thoughts and feelings shared with each other and things they do together. They unite because they passionately want the same things, have common interests and goals to achieve, and love spending time together, even a life time! As relation evolves and time progresses, there are more parties involved (i.e. pets, in-laws, children), more things and events happen requiring more of your attention. Despites all the things are happening, if you want staying attracted to each other, continue to have the desire being close and intimate with each other, wanting to spend whole life time together, both of you would need to continue having and doing what unite both of you at the start; putting some efforts in maintaining them!
When are the moments you both feel mostly united or bonded together in your relationship? Is it after you share a passionate getaway weekend or vacation? Or is it after sharing intimate thoughts and inner feelings? Or is it after having some drinks and some fun together? Or maybe when the apologies and making up start after a heated argument with high emotions? The crucial point is to find your magical moments and potions that keep both of your passion alive for each other. Revitalize these moments and feelings throughout your entire relationship.
Time is what you make of it. Prioritize the quality time you spend with your partner, because your relationship is the foundation of your (potential) marriage life, the pillars of your parents-children relationship and the heart & soul which completes your life.
Today I love my partner by: (share it aloud to your partner)
Setting time aside and having quality time with my partner at least once a week to build and enjoy our relationship further; just for two of us and no other interruptions, i.e. no phone calls, delays, house work, children or friends…etc. I devote my 100% attention.
For your actions:
(1) Make a date (i.e. candle light dinner, Sunday brunch or…) with your partner right away to share the idea of set time aside for quality time together; this will be your first attempt!
(2) Schedule a time once a week with your partner; commit and make it a regular get together for sharing, having fun or intimacy.
Bucket Challenge: Give away 1 gift each day for 7 consecutive days
(Ending Sunday 20th May 2012)
Giving is a virtue; giving generously is a bonus.
To be able to give is a blessing; be able to give generously is an abundance of the heart!
Receiving is a form of giving; giving the opportunity to the giver and allowing ourselves to be humble (that we need other’s help).
If you have not yet opened your heart to GIVE or RECEIVE, this post brings the 1st GIFT to open your heart, if you let us!
People nowadays have more possessions than people 10 or 20 years ago and yet give or share with others much less than 10 or 20 years ago. People nowadays earn much more in monetary terms and yet hold tighter of what they have … Isn’t this contradicting?
For some people, GIVING is natural and it’s not a difficult act. However for some people, they just don’t give, let along giving to total strangers. When you ask them, it’s either the act of giving just never appears in their mind or the act is not a part of their habits, or simply they just don’t feel or want to give.
Everyone takes RECEIVING differently. Some do not really like it, their ego see it as they are being pity on. Some are very fond of it as they take advantages of others via receiving from them. And some see it as the opportunities to connect and sustain the two ways interactions, thus the relationship.
With GIVING or RECEIVING, the action is not merely a DO, but a sincere GIVING or RECEIVING involves our hearts, genuine caring, open mind and careful execution. So both the giver and the receiver are content and fulfilled in the process. They both experience what they want to experience and will promote this GIVING and RECEIVING further with people around them. There was a movie, Pay It Forward also promoting similar concept! Have a look in YouTube video 🙂
So, our challenge for this week is to GIVE and to RECEIVE with your heart! It’s not so much about giving the tangibles, i.e. money, car, clothes, books away to others, but more about to offer what you have that are intangibles, the elements that make up the YOU today, i.e. your kindness, wisdom, helpful hands…etc. And as to RECEIVE, our challenge is to be aware of how open we are to receive from others and how we receive from others.
Start with giving a gift after you have read this post and experience yourself the feeling of GIVING!
Our first gift to give away is this POST to our readers 🙂 Hope this 7 days gifting and receiving experience impacts and influences your life! Come join us!
Challenge:
Give away 1 gift each day for consecutive 7 days!
Share your abundance with others
Extra Challenge:
Increase to 14 days!
Goals:
To experience via giving, how life around us may be changed ~ (and notice how valuable you are!)
Time required:
x hour(s) each day for 7 days (depending on what you offer to others)
Energy level:
Medium to High
Preparation:
(a) Set your mind to give without expecting any returns;(b) Focus more on the intangibles (i.e. help, advice, words of comforts, actions) that you may offer to others than the tangibles (i.e. money, food…etc).
Bucket Challenge: Go to a live match, concert or exhibition etc. (Ending Sunday 15th April 2012)
This weekly challenge will be quite easy and just enjoy the experience! We also like easy challenge!
We watch a lot of videos through TV, cinema or online streaming. Comparatively we watch very few live events. So, as time passes we tend to forget how impactful is to watch something in live! For example, the feeling of being with a crazy crowd of people cheering, screaming and jumping up and down after a goal is not the same as alone by yourself in front of the TV at home.
Furthermore, a lot of shows are not well adapted to TV, like many magic shows. The “magical” effects of these shows just kind of disappear when they are on screen. So does the spirit within us to experience something in live setting. We need to constantly re-stimulate and remind ourselves to watch, experience and enjoy something vividly alive!
So in this week, let’s take a ticket to a live experience. It may be a live soccer game, a live concert, a theater performance or as simple as a street performance.
Here is what we are going to watch:
And you, what will you watch or experience?
Challenge:
Go to a live show!
Feel the liveliness, emotions and unspoken spirit!
Extra Challenge:
Invite more people to join you the better
Goals:
To remember how it feel when enjoying something in live!
Time required:
1-hour, 1-night or 1-day
Energy level:
Low
Preparation:
Get yourself moving or buy a ticket to a show
* Encourage and support us by sharing this post with your friends or clicking “LIKE” if you like our post:)
Bucket Challenge: Experiencing new dancing steps and the philosophy behind!
(Ending Sunday 8th April 2012)
Whether you have two left feet or perfect left and right feet, this week we invite you to explore and try new dancing steps and the cultures embedded within the dance. You may take a one-time only dancing lesson or enroll a short-term program; it is entirely your call! The spirit is to challenge ourselves to (a) learn some new dancing moves; (b) to experience the emotions and techniques of the new dance chosen; and to (c) understand, as well as to appreciate the essences and the sophistication of the new dance.
“It’s only when you start to swift around your feet, you may start to feel the lightness of life.”
~ Author Unknown
There are so many different categories of dances which you may choose one or two to give it a try. For examples :
1. Concert or performance dances like Acro dance, Ballet, Contemporary dance, Flamenco, Modern dance, Contact improvisation, Tap dance…etc.
2. Street dances, Hip-hop & Funk dances, Punk dances, House dances and Rave dances.
3. Traditional Jazz / African-American vernacular dance like Boogie-woogie, Moonwalk, Swing.
4. Passionate Latin dances like Mambo, Rumba, Bolero,Samba (ballroom or Brazilian or Gafieira styles), Jive, Reggaeton, Salsa, Argentine tango, Cha Cha and so on.
5. Historical/Classical dances: Medieval dance, Renaissance dance, Masque, English country dance, Baroque dance, Regency dance and Vintage dance
6. Exotic dances: Bollywood dance, Belly dance and Pole dance…etc.
7. Group dances: Line dance, Folk festival dance.
8. Sacred dances: Ghost dance, Ecstatic dance.
If you have already tried quite a few type of dances and mastered in them, why not try something completely new?! If you just start exploring, then keep on exploring. We are here together to explore and encourage each other! If you are still just thinking about exploring, a word of encouragement, just take actions and go ahead to give a try! There is nothing to lose, but only to gain. To gain insight on one’s own abilities to learn and to adapt to a new skill which requires body co-ordination, leading and be-led qualities, compromising with different partners, as well as enriching and cultivating one’s emotions, aesthetic sophistication.
I had tried belly dancing once before. To my horror surprise, I learnt the fact that some of the body parts could move individually, i.e. moving the bum without moving the waist, right hip and left hip may be rotated in and outwards separately, abdominal muscles may be divided into four quadrants and each may be moving one after another, what is even more crazy is that the left and right breasts may shake at the different time!! See Sadie Belly Dance 2008, Sadie Belly Dance 1. I tried and found it very interestingly funny and technical. It has made me realize that there are so many muscles which I have, but not using or exploring them at all. What will I be, if I get to use them all?
With different dancing styles, certainly there are different abstract outfits, i.e. emotions, gestures, attitudes and so on, attaching to the dance. For more graceful dances, gestures will be more sophisticated, smooth and elegant; for more passionate dances, a tint of sexual and seduction are inevitable; for street dances and contemporary dances, spontaneity and sense of free spirit are the major traits. Not to mention, for religious worship sacred dances, sincerity, holiness is heavily portrayed.
So, joining us this week challenge and exploring a new dancing experience and find out what is in the dance for you!!
Challenge:
Try out a new dance moves
Select a new dance which will challenge your ability
Extra Challenge:
Try out the new dance with your partner or friend
Goals:
To explore and find the emotions within
Time required:
1 hour or more (encourage to do at least 4 lessons x 1 hour)
Energy level:
Low to High
Preparation:
Just enjoy and have fun!! Be open-minded.
* Currently we are learning Tango as a couple together. So far, it has been quite a challenge for both of us! Not just on self-exploration, but also as a couple! We learn more about each other and how we need to work together as a team. This is definitely a nice exercise for a couple to get to know each other. Try it out yourselves!!
* Encourage and support us by sharing this post with your friends or clicking “LIKE” if you like our post:)
In this week bucket challenge, we will focus on how well your body talks, your body language.
By Wikipedia definition: “Body language is a form of mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication, which consists of body postures, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously.”
By crossing their arms, people look less accessible.
In our first week of travel in Argentina, we make a broad use of body language. As we both don’t speak Spanish, so we were expecting to have some communication difficulties. We were wrong! With some wild imagination and bold demonstrations, we manage to communicate pretty well.
Here is a video example of how we use our body language to communicate. Can you understand what we are saying?
Scenario 1: Bargaining to have cheaper price
Scenario 2: Meeting a new friend and telling him his zipper is unclosed
Scenario 3: Asking for direction
A typical tourist taking pictures everywhere has arrived to the information desk and asked for:
1. place to eat
2. place to cut hairs
3. place to buy long dresses and shoes
4. place to learn how to dance; after knowing it is 50 per lesson, she decides not to go.
Did you get what we were trying to communicate??
We broadly use our body language not only when we try to communicate with Spanish speakers, but we also come to use it and practise it in a whole new context, dancing.
Buenos Aires is the city where tango is born. We couldn’t resist taking tango lessons here. At first, I was seeing tango as a very technical dance. But after a one to one dancing experience with a professional tango teacher, I have realized that tango is much more. Through tango, our personality, mood and characters are projected in the ways we dance.
It’s really surprising how much we need to constantly communicate with each other non-verbally, in order to move together smoothly with good timing, rhyme and expression. At the beginning, we were both (especially me) quite terrible in term of dance moves, timing and synchronisation. With some practices, we manage to communicate much better via a gentle push with the hands, a synchronized shoulder twisting, a look or just a slight move from the torso. Tango is like a language; through this non-verbal communication, we are able to open up a complete different views about us as a couple and how we cooperate together as a team. Now it’s time for practice!
Here are few ideas about how you can explore the non-verbal communication. It is listed sequentially in the level of difficulty:
• Watch the TV series “Lie to me”
• Watch TV with sound off or in a total different unknown language to you
• Watch opera, comedy show, ballet dancing or other dancing performance
• Try to communicate with friends like we did in the video
• Take some dance classes
Let’s go!
Challenge:
Explore your body language
Learn and master your body language!
Extra Challenge:
Post your video like we did
Goals:
Be aware of the messages your body send consciously or unconsciously
Time required:
Depending of how you chose to explore body language.
Energy level:
Low to high
Preparation:
A mirror might be helpful
* Encourage and support us by sharing this post with your friends or clicking “LIKED” if you like our post:)
Bucket Challenge: Go somewhere Your Hands have never been before!!
(Ending Sunday 4th March 2012)
Ever try creating fire with your hands? Ever touch sky with your both hands? I am just kidding ~
This week challenge is quite simple, straight forward and yet require a bit of thinking and actions!
The challenge is to remind us how amazing our hands are, their capabilities, and how much and many we may create and achieve with our hands!! We have took them for granted and now it is time to express our gratitude to our hands by taking them to the places they never been before and doing the actions they have never done.
The below is a list of actions that we may think of doing with our hands. They are not the only actions for sure, see if you may come up more than what we have listed:
Shaky home for the night (cannot believe she puked ...)
This is the boat which we spent a night. It is parked at Bouveret harbor in Switzerland.
The night was cold and snowy. The boat looked small from outside. To our surprises, inside was quite warm, cosy and spacious. There are folding tables, a sink with working space and even a chemical toilet!
Just wake up, morning outside the boat.
The sailing boat was anchored inside the harbor for our night stay. The water was relatively calm, but still shake constantly and gently left and right. It took us a while to get used to the movements, especially after Cindy emptied out her full stomach after a good buffet. At the beginning, we tried to sleep with the waviness of the water, sound of the wind (got stronger as the night darken) and the crackling sound of the ropes hitting the poles. Once when we used to the regular sounds, funny thing was, we both woke up when there was total silence, wondering what had just happened? It was not an easy night to start. Luckily, at the end, we slept like babies until the owner of the boat woke us up with hot breakfast!
.
In the morning, there was much more snow than the night before! We were very surprised to see how beautiful the place is in the day light! We took some pictures and left for home. We may have left the boat and the place behind, but certainly the experience was still with us!! We couldn’t help on feeling the wavy feelings within us, as if we were still on the boat. We felt it on the train, on the sofa at home, even while we were lying on the bed, and still feel like as if we were on the boat! Everything was shaking a little (feel like to puke a little.. poor Cindy..)
.
.
Here is the view from the port looking towards the inland.
This experience was special and sensory. It is definitely worth it giving a try! Another tick to our bucket list challenges! Cindy and Loic
This experience was special and sensory. It is definitely worth it giving a try! Another tick to our bucket list challenges! Cindy and Loic
Bucket List Challenges 