✨Our meeting on July 30 was warm, thoughtful, and truly international

A special highlight was Nadia Zinovkina’s first Ice Breaker speech, “Lessons Taught and Lessons Learned".
Nadia shared how working with a very energetic three-year-old taught her something deeper than any textbook: predictable routines and clear boundaries can create safety and help a child grow. Her final message was equally relevant to adults, when life becomes stressful, we should first return to the basics: sleep, food, rest, and only then demand greater productivity from ourselves.

Our Toastmaster of the Day, Artur Baimler, invited us to reflect on the question: Why do we find it so difficult to do nothing?
One particularly interesting idea was that rest is often connected with guilt: society expects us to remain productive, while taking a break may feel like weakness or a failure to create value.

For the first time this year, our colleague Halima Jibril joined us from another country as General Evaluator.

Despite some connection difficulties, Andrey Vladykin and Svetlana Gubareva made the hybrid meeting possible. Thanks to them, Halima and Oksana were able to join us online from abroad.

We were also very happy to see Danna Gantulga, who presented the Thought of the Day. Danna is leaving for a while, but we hope to welcome her back to the club in autumn or join us for an online meeting.

A warm welcome to our new guests, Oksana, Elena and Alexander. We hope you enjoyed the atmosphere and that this was only the first of many meetings with us.

Sometimes doing less helps us notice more.

Our next meeting will take place on ✨August 13✨.
🌐 Registration is open , join us for another evening of English, public speaking, and meaningful conversation.

At our last meeting, Artur invited us to reflect on a simple but surprisingly difficult question:

💫 Why do we find it so difficult to do nothing?

Perhaps because stillness is ✨not empty✨.

When the noise stops, we begin to notice our thoughts, doubts, fears, and hopes.

This is why Tilda Swinton’s new book, Ongoing, feels closely connected to our recent discussion. In the video, she reads one of its chapters, Notes for Radical Living.
It is written very much in her style: poetic, concise, and free of unnecessary words. A series of short manifestos, reminders, or even quiet commandments, each inviting us to pause, reflect, and consider where we are in life right now.

For a Toastmasters community, these lines may also serve as prompts for speeches, Table Topics, and deeper conversations. We come here not only to practise English and public speaking, but also to explore ideas, challenge assumptions, ✨and understand ourselves a little better✨.

🔆 Make friends with chaos.

🔆 Hold a calm mind.

🔆 Let things shake.

🔆 Forgive human frailty.

🔆 Champion second chances.

🔆 Defy unkindness.

🔆 Reverence fellowship.

🔆 Listen to the quiet.

🔆 Respect the young.

🔆 Seek growth.

🔆 Trust in change.

🔆 Treasure learning.

🔆 Inspire faith in evolution.

🔆 Reach beyond the binary.

🔆 Be wary of the doubtless.

🔆 Honour the bright-headed.

🔆 Grow plants.

🔆 Attend to the weather.

🔆 Be electric.

🔆 Cherish language.

🔆 Celebrate silence.

🔆 Dance daily.

🔆 Bless the handmade.

🔆 Sing into pain.

🔆 Challenge assumptions.

🔆 Follow the wind.

🔆 Look upwards.

🔆 Swoon under clouds.

🔆 Feel your courage.

🔆 Face forward.

🔆 Read history.

🔆 Open your ears.

🔆 Drop your shoulders.

🔆 Bend your knees.

🔆 Raise the roof.

🔆 Keep breathing.

🔆 Be trustworthy.

🔆 Take care of yourself.

🔆 Believe in goodness.

🔆 Head for the light.

Perhaps doing nothing is not really “nothing.”

Sometimes it is the moment when we finally hear what matters.
Which lines speak to you most?

#Thought_of_the_Day_MFSC