Flowers on a Sunday

Sitting at my desk on a rainy Sunday, pouring over yet another stack of notes and materials, I'm struck my how satisfied I am that this has become my normal. I seem to put myself through these ups and downs of emotion a lot, willingly signing up for new challenges and feeling stressed about whether I'll prevail at the end of the day. It's intense and the pressure and nerves are constant. Yet I feel that perhaps at this stage in my life it might be healthy to consistently push, because if not now, then when, ever? It's a rat race to be sure. I never thought I'd be 'doing this'. And yet now, dare I say, I just might be doing it for real. Time will tell if I'll survive. I certainly hope I'll have the stamina to sustain me through the arduous climb. For now at least, just like a flower, freshly plucked is at its freshest and most beautiful for those brief few days, I'll savour these sweet moments, no matter how short and appreciate its beauty while it continues to thrive.

Original paintings by Gretchen Hancock

Days by the Water

I can't even remember how it was like to post weekly, it feels like such a long time ago. I have been away. I have never been busier, and yet I've strangely never been this content. You know how after a long day of swimming and playing and laying out under the hot sun, you have such a good night's sleep after. You fall asleep easy and you feel properly and truly well rested come morning. It's the work equivalent I suppose.

So I think what prompted this post was my recent trip to Phuket. It's funny, it's like the game, 'one is not like all the others'. It felt like my first southeast asian holiday although it wasn't really. But after the grand Europe trips and multi city tours, this felt uncomplicated and odd. The new approach to travelling will take some getting used to. It will be hard.

But back to Phuket. I swam, I baked, well I burnt and I had a joyous five days. My first true break in awhile. And I hope there will be many more pleasant little trips to look forward to, unexpected destinations to uncover and a challenging but not impossible path to navigate. And I certainly hope to be back here again more often.

In the meantime, with love.

 

 

Paintings by Janwilhelmi

To 2013!

Just like there is a Morning and a Night person, I believe there are January or December people. A January person embraces the new beginning, the clean slate, the 12 months full of possibilities ahead. I'm a December person. I walk gingerly through the first 6 months and then start to celebrate once we hit June and finally move into the second half of the year. January intimidates me a little, it's a month fraught with anxieties, people filled with resolutions, new goals to chase, dreams to dream. Once the first half of the year is over, people start to relax, take things in their stride, settle into the day to day. Once September comes around, that's when the fun begins. It's crunch time, the now or never mentality kicks in, everyone is motivated to make the very most of the remaining months and the countdown to holiday season begins. Then November and December, the most wonderful time of the year flies by. Before you know it, it's New Year's Eve and the rollercoaster is set to begin...all over again. Happy 2013 folks! 2012, you were lovely old pal.