Completing and opening new routes in 2022

The 2022 boat is already, silently, sailing off and I look back to my routes in 2021.

Using my voice with Indian Mantras

In Summer 2021, I have joined on Sundays the outdoor ritual that takes place in Berlin, in Volkspark. The circle of people meets up to sing Indian mantras. A welcoming space to revamp your soul from emotional rubbish, frustration and tensions, it wakes up the child in you who has unconditional love for life. It purify your state of feeling.

Sri leads, with his experience, playfulness and kindness, and opens up a world where your voice is actually a medium to awake your own awareness. Sri explains Indian mantras to let the circle familiarise with what chakras are. He shares wisdom from practical experience and Indian roots. Chakras are in our internal beliefs and must be awaken through mantras. A practice to wake up what you have silenced multiple times unconsciously: your way to purely express your self, your true identity with acceptance and exploration. Repeating the words by focusing on pronouncing each letter properly, it is just the beginning of enjoying this experience.

Using my voice, I have learnt more about my sense of resilience and belonging to my journey.

Running to practice the relationship with fatigue and pain.

The relationship with my body is a never ending school. The body, often, confesses the best secrets under constraints. I embrace running to enjoy myself and listen how I learn to deal with limits through relationship to fatigue.

In 2021 I run, almost every week, on Tuesdays. Rain or snows does not matter. In late January, I started with 8 km per week. On average, every month I have increased the distance of 1 km. This is not about iron man mission, but rather it gives a practice of dealing with reactions and over reactions facing the reality of struggles. During the run, I stand close to my breathing, making sure is regular, as I begin to get tired I focus more on how to land on my feet. Also, the monkey in my minds starts jumping more often as the tiredness rumps up and pain knocks the door.

After the 2018 Berlin marathon, running will be with me for a little while again. Perhaps for another marathon.

My first music episode

Besides playing bass guitar, I listen to Music constantly and I notice that my relationship with listening to music, it is also changing. If possible, I support artists and the music industry. Bandcamp and NTS radio are the place where I practice my values. On the first platform I buy tracks and on the second, I pay a monthly donation of € 3, 50 to listen music episodes that bring me back to my attraction of creating playlists.

I used to do it with music cassettes, then mp3 and in 2021, I have been taking notes of my own episodes to create and share it. Putting together tracks around a concept, it is another way to unlock and communicate freely my signals to the world and my growth towards my authenticity.

Finally, in December 2021, I launched my first mixtape, here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/renzo-dandrea/timelessislandsvagabond

Basketball Coaching to nudge my self-actualization

The competition from my basketball career has turned into sharing everything that I learnt in 15 years of professional basketball career in Italy. I was offered to fill the gap as coach in the team I was playing in Berlin in 2020. I gave it a go and I will complete almost two seasons of coaching a team of senior amateur basketball team in Berlin.

This experience has been and is powerful because the discipline, leadership and values I had absorbed as player are a self-engine. From the eleven coaches I have had in my career, I could blend different tools. In terms of leadership, I try to give a clear indication of principles in team culture with clear approaches to play with spacing, timing and collaboration. The response has been beautifully positive. The transformation is happening and it brings more clarity in the rest of my life to express my talent fully. I feel lucky to experience this to know myself a bit better.

Moving on and be where there is life

This writing marks the shift between my break back home in Lecce, south of Italy, and my return to Berlin, where I am as I am writing.

I am approaching my fifth year of experiences in Berlin, the choice of physical places is becoming more personal while digital ones are offering the potential to steer our life decisions as we wish.
The above routes in 2021 are good indications of my compass in my professional identity, for example: my creativity happens when I bring a mindset from one discipline and domain to another one to solve a problem.

And in my next moves on this planet to learn from nature, for example, it is important to feel the awareness of opportunities to grow my true identity.

One last gem, Lorenzo, my nephew and little buddha. He came to life in October 2021, my brother’s son on this planet, in my family. He brings new energy and inspiration, his presence will reframe connections to see what is necessary to change, accept and let it be. And…Everything is connected.