The Nobel Prize winner, logician, philosopher, and best friend of Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russel, was asked on his deathbed at the age of 97, in a withered body but mentally alerted, what happiness, looking back on a long life, consists of, to which he, with a paraphrase correspondingly answered that he learned to be happy when he stopped caring about himself and his shortcomings, when he learned to direct his attention away from himself, towards knowledge, the world situation and people he cared about. To me, this sums up the concept of le non-moi.

I have had the notion of le non-moi tattooed on my left bicep for 20 years.

It is a rarely used expression that also could be explained with other words in English but as we know; everything sounds better in French.

For me, the notion of le non-moi is about letting go of self-consciousness at least for a while since few of us are enlightened yogis. It comes into play when subject, object and action become one. When our ego loses its grip, the monkey mind quiets down, and we become part of something greater.

For me it often happens through physical exercise; training or martial arts, from breath work or meditation and often lying or sitting on a bed of nails. It can also be felt in companionship with others for example in deep conversation or through arts, reading, listening to music or sometimes maybe even through a glass of champagne.

Le non-moi is therefore the shared name of both our prize, which is annually presented to an individual or team who, through their art, research or communication, enables more people to experience le non-moi, and our Stadil et Stadil, LE NON MOI champagne.

Dive into our LE NON MOI - THORNICO Prize and Stadil et Stadil champagne below.