“Curious Souls Get Together” – 16th Meeting!

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Dear Friends,

On the evening of  November 30,2016, we met at the beautiful Nola Restaurant, in Galata Istanbul. The weather was cold and gloomy so  I  did not expect many to show up but contrary to what I expected,  we were a nice group of  approximately 25 Curious Souls!img_2294

We first had some free time to catch up with friends and meet with the ones who were there for the first time.img_2196

Later we started watching the first TED Talk that I selected for our group. It was a talk of Graham Shaw who asked the question “Why is it that so many people think they can’t draw? Where did we learn to believe that?.”

In this talk Shaw explains that drawing can be very simple and he guides everyone to draw  cartoons speedily. While watching the talk, we had paper and pens ready and our group followed Shaw’s guidelines! Outcome was surprising! Almost everybody drew fantastic cartoons and some  of them even looked quite professional to me :-)).

At the end of the talk, Shaw explains how a simple act of drawing can have the power to make a positive difference in the world and asks us to consider how many other  beliefs we have about our incapabilities can be shattered if we only try.

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Our discussion on this subject was moderated by Ms.Eda Altan, who asked us wonderful and clever questions that  spiced up our discussions. I would like to thank her for her contribution! We had a lively discussion! She even brought a beautiful Picasso painting that she drew some while ago, when she was inspired to challenge her belief that she could not draw anything except for stick figures! In fact, she said, it was quite surprising for her to realise that she could draw!

I wonder, whether this talk inspired anybody in our group to challenge their limiting beliefs about their capabilities or not? It inspired me a few!

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The second talk we watched was another interesting talk by a man called Michael Roach, who, while studying at Princeton university, went to a Budist monestry in Tibet and stayed there for 25 years. He was then sent back to New York by the monks, as a test, and was asked to form a diamond business and earn 1 million dollars in one year. He only had 7 dollars in his pocket. The monks wanted to see whether he learned the things they taught. Roach not only made 1 million dollars but also sold his company to Warren Buffet for  250 million dollars a couple of years later. In light of this experience, Roach  says that it is possible to realise any wish, if you follow a  precise 4 step formula! I suggest that you watch this talk to discover about this formula and share your views with me; do you agree or not?

You can guess easily that our discussion on this subject was also very interesting! Some expressed the view that they believed in his formula and wanted to give it a try, and some said that he was already an exceptionally clever person with the right resources and it was not the formula but his personnality that created the success. In any case, it was interesting to be informed of such a formula that has positive effects on people, and, who knows, that may even be true!

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After this second talk, we ended our discussions there;  yet  we continued the evening with some more chat before leaving!  It was nice to note once more that at the end of each Curious Souls’ meeting, everybody connects, even thought they maybe from different countries and different backgrounds!

Thank you, dear participants, for joining me at this event and I wish you all wonderful days, until we meet again!

If you would like to the rest of our photos for this event, click on this link!

With my kindest regards

Isil the Curious Soul 🙂