Compassion – d i l a q u i s

Creative Conscience – 10 Years – 10 Stories – 10 Lives: Giulia Gandini

26 September 202226 September 2022 DilaLeave a comment

Giulia Gandini is a London-based writer/director originally from Italy. An alumna of King’s College London and MET Film School, she has worked on numerous critically acclaimed projects since the beginning of her career – including her award-winning documentary ‘Home Stream’. It was this groundbreaking documentary that brought Giulia and Creative Conscience together in 2019 and which led her to win a Creative Conscience Silver Award in 2020.

Giulia reflects on how making this documentary and being supported by Creative Conscience was a life-changing experience: “I had always dreamt about making a documentary and this project was very different from all the other ones I’d done in the past. I was also supported from the very beginning by Chrissy and Creative Conscience, which made a huge difference.”

Dreaming of a Tree

13 October 202126 September 2022 DilaLeave a comment

There’s a gentle, wise tree

With leaves that remind me

The world’s fragility

And I dream of how it would be

If this was my reality

If I could always stay there

Taking refuge in its serenity

Now Has No Fears

9 August 202126 September 2022 DilaLeave a comment

Your fears are not here

Now

The last time you met them

They told you:

The Wild Beauty of Life

8 August 202122 July 2021 DilaLeave a comment

Some moments in life make us feel what being alive truly means, in a very powerful way, in all our cells… In such moments, when I stop and take a deep breath, look inwards and then around me, at the sky; the feelings of gratefulness, love and serenity wash over my soul, and make me realize that only this moment exists, and I’m fully present, fully “here”… ⁣⁣

The Journey is the Thing

24 July 202115 October 2021 DilaLeave a comment

The journey is the thing.”

This quote by the ancient Greek poet Homer was written on a notebook I bought two years ago – a light blue, thin notebook with sea shells on it. It struck a chord deep within and I always came back to it, especially when I got lost in thought over the future, over the next ‘destination’, over the to-do lists. It always brought me back to ‘this moment’, the moment I was in, and helped me realize that this is all that I have, and all that I ever need.

The Power of Choice

22 July 202126 September 2022 Dila4 Comments

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

This quote by Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl, the author of one of the most deeply touching, illuminating and thought-provoking books I’ve ever read, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, never ceases to give me goosebumps.

⁣We all have the innate power within, no matter whether we realize it or not, to connect with our inner core wisdom instead of getting caught in the web of our Ego, to respond with our heartfelt, genuine feelings and thoughts instead of reacting with our habitual defensive patterns and primitive coping mechanisms, to hold space for ourselves and embrace our vulnerability even in the most challenging situations, instead of wearing our armour and denying our humanness and resisting our pain, while unconsciously making it much bigger.

True Freedom

22 May 202116 November 2021 DilaLeave a comment

Our fears aren’t monsters that we need to protect ourselves from by pulling the blanket over our heads as we used to do when we were little – they indeed have dark sides, but what in this vast universe doesn’t?

When they come to visit us, we may tightly shut the door to prevent them from entering, and start thinking that we’ve escaped them, that we’re free now. But what we may not realize is that we’ve shut the door not only to them but also to other emotions, other feelings that would’ve soon come to bring us light and peace and freedom… When we close that door, we in fact take away our freedom with our own hands that turn the key.

Instead, if we could try to connect with the wisdom we hold by looking within, and choose to take a step towards our painful emotions, even though the ground beneath our feet may tremble at the beginning, we will slowly begin to realize that with each step it becomes stronger. With each step that we take, with our strength, courage and confidence growing inside…

Symphony of Everything

22 May 202126 September 2022 DilaLeave a comment

Today, I heard

The song of two birds

A sparrow, and a robin

The song was about being

Here, and hearing

The cat, waking up

The flower, coming to life

Teachable Moments

28 April 202122 July 2021 DilaLeave a comment

Someone who has made a huge impact on my life once told me “There are no mistakes in life. In my world, we label them “fascinating.” Every moment in life is a teachable moment, if you’re open…” Those words really stayed with me and I thought about what they meant quite deeply. As someone who used to try and avoid making mistakes, I’ve come to realize that nearly all the turning points, life changing experiences, unforgettable lessons of my life were in some way related to those “mistakes”. ⁣

Something of You

13 September 202015 October 2021 DilaLeave a comment

A poem originally published in Any Segment Magazine.

Today

There’s no sun

But there are still the tales

Of the sky

Tonight

There’s no moon

But there’s still the light

Of her eyes