#spaciously

[warizoh]

Car broke down. But I guess that doesn’t matter… Those misty mountains haven’t gotten any closer and I’ve been driving in that direction for hours. What’s going on?? And why are there no other cars?

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Joy creates a spaciousness in the mind that allows us to hold the suffering we experience inside us and around us without becoming overwhelmed, without collapsing into helplessness or despair.

—James Baraz, “Lighten Up!”

[alive on all channels]

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

hello! as a celebration of me finally getting my driving license (shoutout to my instructor, he is an absolute saint and has forever changed my perspective on cars and car nerds), i thought i'd ask about your opinion on the cars my family owns — the Škoda Fabia I (the specific one we have is a combi from late 2004. slowly perishing, mainly of rust) and Kia Cee'd (2013??). is there anything remarkable about these two?

Ah, the Ceed, as Kia cowardly renamed it in 2018, in a decision I deliberately reject as I keep on referring to it as Cee apostrophe d, as Top Gear liked to call the earlier model they gave celebrities to go try to get themselves killed on tape, Tom Cruise getting the closest because of course it would be him.

Notice how nary an ounce of steering was given up whatsoever. Man was just balancing the car with the throttle in the true racing driver spirit of "If I die I die and if I don't this'll be a good time".

However, this is a bit of a sidetrack, as that's not your car - that'll be one o' deez, which whether as a 5 door...

...station wagon...

...or its bafflingly named coupe version (Pro_Cee'd????)...

...looks sharp as a goddamn tack in my books. In fact, wanna know how that's not just cheap flattery? That station wagon was actually the car I was pushing for our family to get when ours needed changing! Life didn't grace us with the opportunity, however, and so we ended up replacing our grey Citroën Picasso MPV with another (the ole' Xsara Picasso to C4 Picasso pipeline) which served us decently over a couple years before developing woes and getting passed on to family friends more willing to deal with them. Weird car, that C4 Picasso. Most of the steering wheel didn't turn.

Now, you may ask why those French folx would do that. And the answer is in the word French. I can just imagine the designers asking feedback about the handbrake and getting all giddy as they look at them struggle to figure out where it is. Actually, go on, you try!

Wait, wait, we're once again getting sidetracked, we've still not addressed the Fabia! And that's a crime, because it was a hugely important car for Škoda: as Volkswagen's involvement with the company had turned from shareholder to owner its involvement in the cars had turned from help to codevelopment, making the Fabia a humongous departure from Škodas of old. However, for the latest Octavia, no closer to those hunksajunk, the rave reviews had been no match against Škoda's brand image, which was so terrible that even Wikipedia feels comfortable saying they were laughing stocks.

So for the Fabia, Škoda turned to marketing agency Fallon London for a very bold advertising campaign. So bold in fact that I didn't even stumble into it through my passion for cars, but through my study of marketing. And it's so simple you could miss it. (...it's in the lower right.)

This simple idea, and how hard they doubled down on it...

...completely turned Skoda's fortunes around, in a brand repositioning so successful that all of Fallon's Škoda-related ads received awards. Including this one.

That's not even an ad for Škoda. That's an ad for themselves.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

[gb275]

Timothy

[surferofrowdybliss]

©Deborah Coulter 2024

*Collage for week of September 1...a passion for rolling in reds and fashion flow. (middle)

[mountain-sage]

'Here is another way of finding inner space:

Become conscious of being conscious. Say or think 'I Am' and add nothing to it. Be aware of the stillness that follows the I Am.'

Eckhart Tolle

[hoyatype]

i feel an almost absurd level of happiness and serenity and intensity and agency compared to the fear that constrained me in my early 20s. it’s funny how that works! aging is a blessing—but aging and experiencing the effects of deliberately cultivating one’s mind and pursuing one’s desires multiplies that blessing even further.

yesterday & today spoke to 2 women i admire immensely, both late 30s/early 40s. so invigorating to speak to people who have the certainty and intellectual sharpness and communities i aspire to have. and to know that i can get there too.

[theinwardlight]

From Mark Russ, Quaker Shaped Christianity

[online-homes]

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[themobilephotographypioneer]

Cold, Sea breeze, fresh, crisp, airy, oxygenated, fresh. Seattle

[rivalipark1234]

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[tagitables]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Childe Hassam. Though 'The Passers By' is a modern tale, his work illustrates the mood of the setting well.

* * * *

“If we respond to a stimulus in the outer world with an initial negativity or inner constriction, the stimulus will be processed through the amygdala, the evolutionary bedrock of the human brain, governing our most primitive fight and flight responses. “Danger, danger, danger!” its alarm bells warn; the adrenaline flows, and we prepare to defend ourselves.

If we respond with an initial relaxation and can maintain an interior spaciousness, the stimulus is processed through the more evolutionarily advanced parts of the human forebrain - neo-cortex and prefrontal lobes - and amazingly, the rhythms of brain and heart come into entrainment. We move into an inner coherence which makes possible an outer coherence: a response marked by intelligence, creativity, and compassion.”

~ Cynthia Bourgeault

[Ian Sanders]

[rulesforthedance]

I would say before a race I’m looking forward to the pain cave; like, that’s what I want, I wanna visit it, I wanna make it bigger, that’s the whole purpose, um, I’m looking forward to some new hallucinated friends, and then there’s always just that, like... wonder? Like, it’s not fearful of, but it’s kinda like, I dunno, the unknown of what the unexpected thing will be during that race and will I be able to problem solve it and deal with it well.

Courtney Dauwalter on Some Work, All Play Podcast

[mindful-poems]

[surferofrowdybliss]

©Deborah Coulter 2022

*Collage for week of December 18...a love for spacious shadows and snow glowing through the longest night.

Happy Winter Solstice!