The Emotion of Awe
Awe: a sudden tear in the quiet fabric of reality.
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Distributed Cognition
In the real world, whether you are helming a sixty-foot racing yacht through a dark night or trying to guide your own life through a major transition, navigation is never an isolated, solo act. Instead as any cognitive act it is based on a network which transforms it in situated and distributed cognition.
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Let’s Dream Together: notes from the first matrix 21/06/2026
21st June 2026 Opening Social Dreaming Matrix Introduction Let’s Dream Together is a space for research and practice using the format of Social Dreaming. The meeting on Sunday, June 21st, 2026, was the first social dreaming session of a series of six events online via Zoom. Seven participants from three continents (Asia, Europe, and the…
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Transformative Experiences
Linearity always ends somewhere and, in many cases, it ends with a crash.
We live in an era obsessed with planning, forecasting, and predictability. From an early age, we are sold a simple, linear promise: stay on the laid-out track, check the boxes, and collect the conceptual models that dictate how a life is supposed to function. We treat our major life choices as simple calculations, constantly pressed by an internal clock to predict our own security.
But real life cannot be fully forecasted. When our predictions fail, we find ourselves standing at the edge of what philosopher Laurie Ann Paul defines as a transformative experience, a profound crossroads where prior data or rational calculation can never reveal who we will become on the other side of a decision. Whether you are choosing a radical leap into the unknown or navigating an unchosen tragedy that has violently upended your horizon, the old charts are instantly rendered useless. -
Understanding the Aggressive and Manipulative Personality
A wolf baring its teeth, a gorilla pounding its chest, or a bird puffing its feathers are all highly sophisticated negotiation tactics. They are biological posturing designed to establish boundaries, secure resources, and protect offspring before physical confrontation. In a sense, aggression is transactional: A risky, expensive strategy to gain a survival advantage. In humans, this…
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The Psychology of Sailing: Navigating a Meaningful Life
Navigating Life: The Psychology of Sailing (New Series). This article launches a compelling series exploring the analogy between sailing a boat and living a meaningful life. Discover how concepts like Transformative Experiences, Flow, and Awe—first explored in my university lectures—illuminate the journey of self-discovery.
The core challenge of life is navigation: moving through an often-unfamiliar environment toward an unknown destination. Many feel they are sailing by the seat of their pants, struggling with an unawareness of inner motives (Am I happy? What is my goal?). -
LET’s dream together #11 – Synopsis
“It is in interactions that we draw the world” Carlo Rovelli Session #11 of the Series Let’s Dream Together – Experiment in Social Dreaming was designed with the idea to introduce the language of drawing in an online Social Dreaming. The design of the event comes by the collaboration between Sergio Di Giorgi and Steven…
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let’s dream together #10 – Synopsis
— Collage of the Matrix and Reflection created by one of the participants Experiment #9 was on Saturday November 21, 2020 at 8:00 Los Angeles / 11:00 New York/ 12:00 Rio de Janeiro / 16:00 UK/ 17:00 CET Jelena Dimitrijevic (Serbia) and Fabio Brunazzi (Spain) designed and hosted this matrix with the following structure:…
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MOON LETTERS:THE KAIROS OF BRIDGING GAPS
In the Kairos Readings I offer brief moments of writing, reflecting frames that try to capture what pops up around me while my mind plays whack-a-mole with fragments of Truth.
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Let’s Dream Together #9 – Synopsis
Let’s Dream Together is a shared, co-designed community, co-evolving on the format of Social Dreaming. The series began in April 2020 and it is sponsored by Psychology of Sailing. Open internationally, it welcomed so far more than 40 participants from countries such as Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, South Africa,…
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Let’s Dream Together #8: Synopsis
Let’s Dream Together is a shared co-designed community evolving through the format of social dreaming. The series began in April 2020 and it is sponsored by Psychology of Sailing in cooperation with the Centre for Social Dreaming. Open internationally, it welcomed so far more than 30 participants from countries such as Austria, Brazil, Canada, France,…
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Let’s Dream Together #7 – Synopsis
The Online Social Dreaming Matrix #7 took place on Zoom on Saturday 19th of September 2020. Eighteen participants took turns sharing dreams and associations. MATRIX #1 The firs dream took us on a beach, the light was similar to a moon eclipse, a low light, the dreamer takes a bath in the sea. A two…
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LET’S DREAM TOGETHER #6 – Synopsis
The series of Social Dreaming Let’s Dream Together restarted Saturday 29th August 2020 after a break of almost 3 months. This was the sixth meeting of the series that welcomed more than 25 participants from countries such as Austria, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, U.K., USA which were able/forced to connect via the…
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LET’S DREAM TOGETHER #5 – Synopsis
“Let’s Dream Together” Series – Fabio Brunazzi 5th SDM – Sunday 25 May 2020 – From 11.00am until 12.10pm EST Hosts: Shelia Thurman (USA) and Agnes Berthoz (France/United Kingdom) Participants: 9 Dreams: 8 Associations: Around 21 In this matrix, many of the dreams reflected about our human behaviours and those of the virus Covid19. i.e. The virus, like us…
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Let’s Dream Together #4 – Synopsis
This report is compiled by Sara Mononen On Sunday May 10th, Sara Mononen (Canada) and Elio Vera (Italy) hosted a Social Dreaming Matrix. 10 people attended from England, Canada, USA, and the Netherlands.11 dreams and 14 associations were shared. THEMES:– passports & papers; credentials– Division/differences between child and adult world– Transport and transformation– Fear vs. Adventure…
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LET’S DREAM TOGETHER #3 – Synopsis
A bat in the bathroom, to be flushed down, long and thin fiber protruding from the body, maybe a whisker, I don’t have to be afraid. Another dream, there is a mouse, aggressive,toting a small gun, but so inoffensive looking. I try to flush it as well, severe his head. Flushing animal with struggling. There…
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LET’S DREAM TOGETHER #2 – Synopsis
The second Online Social Dreaming Matrix takes place on April 19th. People from previous gathering attend again joined by five new entries. A total of 11 people attend the matrix. The opening follow the lines of the previous meeting and we jump right into a house on the beach. A lawn with no grass activates…
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LET’S DREAM TOGETHER – Synopsis of a Social Dreaming Matrix
On April 12th I sat down in front of a screen on the work table right under my boat and connected with 12 people for a Social Dreaming Matrix. I had been eager to host a Social Dreaming Matrix again. One year ago I hosted two in less than a month, in real life and…
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What is A Social Dreaming MATRIX?
The social dreaming matrix is a structured opportunity to share dreams with others. It shares the interest about dreams with psychoanalysis but it differs because it does not attempt any interpretation and it has no therapeutic finality.
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Dealing with the Blues while sailing
The Cruising Blues and Their Cure: Pirsig’s Metaphor for Life Navigation The Cruising Blues and Their Cure: Pirsig’s Metaphor for Life Navigation When Robert M. Pirsig passed away at age 88 in his home in Maine, he left behind a cultural legacy deeply tied to his brilliant, best-selling books. He became instantly famous with the…
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When sailing is only a game: Sailaway the ultimate sailing simulator
Sailaway is a new sailing simulator that promise “to sail the distant ocean from the comfort of your home and PC”. The game is planned to be releases via Early Access in April 2017 by Irregular Corporation. Featuring a realistic reproduction of ocean water and waves, coastline and and real-time weather conditions (based on NOAA data) and…
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | TEAMWORK
The beauty of the Arctic: interview with Chris and Jess Bray
Chris Bray and Jess Taunton bought an old 29 ft. sailboat in Halifax, Canada in 2009, rebuilt her and sailed through the Northwest Passage to Alaska. Already professional photographers and adventurers (check out their website), they reached many fans on the Internet thanks to a popular Youtube series of their voyage. They are also currently…
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | MOTIVATION
Push your mind and body further: interview with Matt Rutherford
Humans can’t survive for long in the ocean without the aid of technology. The development of technology is a key factor to enhance sailing performance but while very important, there are other factors that influence success in sailing. The extraordinary ability that humans possess in adapting to different environments and the mental capacity to withstand…
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | TEAMWORK
A family of sailing nomads: meet the Coconuts
There are special people that redefine the concept of normality. Sometimes a lone individual takes on a challenge and defies conventions through a unique journey. In this case, it’s an entire family. The Coconuts are a sailing family of six, Jay, Natasha, Sol, Luna, Caribe e Artico, who sailed for six years in the South America,…
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | TEAMWORK
Living a Happy Outdoor Life: interview with Ellen & Seth
Ellen Massey Leonard and Seth Leonard both already fulfilled their childhood dream to sail around the world onboard their first sailboat Heretic, and now they are fostering new voyages of exploration towards the Arctic Ocean onboard Celeste. They do all this while conducting an intense professional career, and documenting their sailing adventure on their website gonefloatabout.com….
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | TEAMWORK
Keeping the cruising couple healthy: interview with Giulia Casani
Cruising couples spend a great lot of time together, basically every minute of the day, working towards a common goal, sharing good and bad moments. There is a common saying that if you survive living on a boat as a couple than you can survive anything. There had been famous sailing couples, like Susan and…
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The 5 obstacles to “living the cruising dream”
Sailing towards distant horizons, visiting new countries following one’s own time is an increasing popular lifestyle, a dream at hand’s reach. The new wave of sailing bloggers (like myself) and Youtube Sailing Channel lure a wide audience into this narrative of self-realization and discovery that helps to spring up the belief that absolutely everyone can…
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Small boat, big ocean: an interview with James Baldwin
James Baldwin has become an established point of reference for small sailboat enthusiasts. His website atomvoyages is a wellspring of informations for people who are planning to start cruising affordably. He is author of two books about his voyages aboard Atom, a Pearson Triton built in 1963 that has been twice around the world. Most of…
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BLOG | INTERVIEWS | LEADERSHIP | PERFORMANCE | RESILIENCE
The Flow of Sailing: An interview with Tim Herzog
Sailing competitively is tough. There are very little reward for the very hard work involved, and variables out of the athlete’s control can influence drastically the outcome of a race. To perform consistently in this scenario sailors have to learn how to control their inner state and avoid that their own mind gets in the…
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The Psychology of Sailing: 7 Ways to Manage Stress While Sailing
Explore the psychology of offshore stress and the panic threshold at sea. Learn 7 actionable strategies to build mental resilience, manage crew dynamics, and maintain cognitive focus during high-tension ocean navigation.
