NeoL

ーーHow has the spread of coronavirus effect your lifestyle and creative activities?


Demi : We stand all equal and equally fragile.However naive it may sound, mama earth gave us a warning.And we have a choice – either live our lives exactly the same way, or make individual changes which can improve the work of us as “a whole”.
Because I believe that after the dust of coronavirus drops down, nothing will ever be the same, I had a need to go with the flow of changes.
I opened my self up for a feeling of being able to adjust into anything that may come,
at the same time I wanted to reduce attachments.
I stopped smoking and it is quite a big deal.
I started when I was 14 and and since I was a child I had seen my father and after, my older sister always with a cigarette.
My father was a strong individual and artist,
so I had associated it with the word “cool” and my personality grew fully bonded with this addiction..
I know it is easier now, when I’m at home and the level of stress still can be controlled.
To define it more as my new way, I’m moving deeper into the ‘healthy fun type of lifestyle’.
I fire up my passion in diet and food knowledge, growing an affection toward unprocessed foods and pleasure in simplifying / purifying the needs and reducing the costs.
And same as many, I started jogging and I’m not a runner type of person,
but I wanted to feel my lungs improving and the air tastes differently now.
I also do the “bodybuilding” exercises with my husband but it’s more for laughs rather than seriously shaping the body !


In terms of creative activities (*not counting those connected with work which I could still do via online like planning and advising), most I have put on hold, turning my main attention towards the daily life activities, at the beauty of the smallest things.
Recently I did make some creative exercises and I have noticed a bigger distance in observing myself during this process.
What is good and what is not..
I have found joy in observing myself with this gathered, less judgmental and more objective point of view.
I need creative activities to live but for this time, it does not need to be necessarily something that comes instantly. I kind of changed the creative activities into one creative process of making a new me (…)

ーーDo you have anything you realized and want to keep in mind from now on going through this situation ?


Demi : I have realized the many unnecessary layers that social reality is building on us.
Those layers barricade the essence.
They are made from pressure, which is artificial.
It is very difficult to control the speed in such a big city like Tokyo, but I’ve realized how much I enjoy ‘slow’ and how much you can get from ‘slow’.

ーーHow are you preparing yourself mentally and physically towards the lockdown（緊急事態宣言）?


Demi : The physical side you know already ;
And about the mental, I continue and develop my interests in the connection between neuroscience and buddhist.
I was practicing meditation already before the coronavirus attack and I guess it was the main reason why I could experience all those things I have mentioned earlier.
Mind and body connection started to become a very conscious ‘one’ process.
They both request their requirements more loudly to me now.
I want to make meditation a habit, not finding all those excuses of not having time, when hopefully things will come back to more usual speed.

ーーIn light of your own activities, what kind of indoor creation is possible?


Demi : Retrained from ‘the usual’ way, any activity which can train creativity is possible, and in those the possibilities are uncountable.
At the moment, I feel a need for some kind of practice, learning new or improving some skill or knowledge.
As you are restrained from team work, it is a moment of our own growth.
But what is interesting is being forced to use only what is ‘around’.
This way, it is related to my roots so a part of me enjoys it.
Because I grew up in a small city in Poland,
I was forced to remake and figure out the alternatives as there was not much available.
I feel it might be a good skill, in the time when the economy will need to get back on its feet.

ーーIf you have any recommendations or ideas on how to use online applications efficiently or any measures that one can take themselves, please share them with us.


Demi : My most recommend system will be the one based on a part of fun & pleasure with a part of some study.
Think of something that you always wanted to learn but you never had time for it.
Re-think, re-build and have a pleasure of relax after.
Make new healthier habits, set them deeply in your mind.
Enjoy present, even if the future is not known.


I was always complaining about not having time to study Japanese, and because I have visual memory only, which is extremely short, until this moment I could not make a visible improvement.
But I was introduced to the study language apps in game form and I think I took a step forward.
Being based on typical game rules like competing, getting rewarded etc., it’s giving me more of a “fun” type of pressure.
It’s not about becoming a scholar, but I definitely observed that my mind finally has opened up to kanji and it put some seed of new interest into it too.
The app is called “duolingo” and it offers most ( I think ) most possible languages.
Also I will recommend checking some podcasts, audio books or radio channels and live chats events.
Trying to stay away as much as possible from the Social media apps.
I’m struggling with a small addiction from Instagram and I have noticed that many times I get too involved, it gave me some stress in proving things to social ..
Of course it can be used in a more positive way in connecting with friends or new people too, but it’s good to find other alternatives !


From personal recommendations,
• A lovely spirit – Manami Kinoshita started to play a radio club via the SoundCloud app as “週末RADIO CLUB”. So you can bring some love by sounds into your space.
• From the Podcasts, at the moment I started listening to “Brain Health & Beyond” by Dean & Ayesha Sherzai. If you are interested in how our brains are constructed and how we can improve it’s activity, you can find good advice from those two.
• I also listen to dahrma talks via App “Audio Dahrma” which include my favourite teacher – Gil Fronsdal his talks with a touch of humor is the one which works on me most efficiently.
•As for Live talks, the most interesting one I found was via BOF. You can find the list on their website and for some of them you need to register.
• And of course to make a proper balance, I watch pure entertainment movies, series or channels as we all need fun and rest for the brain.
If you don’t know it yet, I would recommend the 90s Japanese program called “Vermilion Pleasure Night” by Yoshimasa Ishibashi from Kyupi Kyupi available on Youtube.
Also visually aesthetic – drama called “POSE” available via Netflix !

ーーDo you have anything you want to challenge yourself on?


Demi : > If the Self Isolation will continue, I want to find a new way for self-expression and a new creative medium.
> If the Self Isolation will finish, I want to challenge myself with transferring what I have started in myself into the wider considered space, adjusting into what ever will happen.
> No matter if the Self Isolation will continue or not,I want to find a symbiosis in the matters I value, together with my work, finding opportunities in the difficulties.


ーーAfter the coronavirus converges and the situation gets better, what would you like to do?


Demi : Hugs.


ーーDo you agree with the measures taken by the government? If not, what other measures would you recommend taking?


Demi : I think the government did not do 100% correct,But I didn’t want to put myself in a position of a person who don’t see their efforts.The main difficulty is what democracy can bring, apart of “our individual rights”.Some of the countries choose a ‘life value’ upon ‘the rights value’.They lockdown people with more serious restrictions.
It’s hard to point out what is the right answer, but the decisions of the Japanese government seemed to be hesitant and fairly confusing for people.
The sad truth when the numbers changed drastically after the official decision of postponing the Olympics.
It was a bit ‘eye opening moment’, in seeing that the economy is valued more than our lives.
After, instead of staid decisions, a moment of satire came from debating support to people via travel coupons, meat and two masks per one family.
All the next decisions which came after were in a feeling of “a few steps too late”…
What I was dreaming to see a little, in fact was an action from the Emperor side.
I understood that in Japan there is no law to force people to stay at home and our Prime Minister could only “ask politely”, so I felt that if the person who is not taking any political side, but to whom everyone have the biggest respects, is taking an action by his own heart, asking people to stay at home – it could have the same powerful force as in other countries.
But it would be the most gentle power (…)

Magdalena Demukai aka Demi Demu
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URL: https://demidemu.com
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