Life, Love and the Everyday

When you have a birthday mile-stone, it gets you thinking more than you normally do. You think about the things you have been too scared to do, you think about the over-seas travel you have not done, you think about whether you want to relocate, travel or stay where you are and put down roots. Of course, timing is everything. And whether you have the moula and moxy to do it. Then you think about the dreams you have accomplished. When I was twenty I had a loooooong list of dreams I had for my life. There is one dream on that list that I still have not accomplished - to be a writer. In my heart I know this is possible - because impossible things happen every day. Then there is a reasonable voice in my head saying that there is every chance it can happen and every chance that it won't. Still, I wanted this to happen so badly since I realised the joy writing brought to me. At times I got depressed and it was painful for me to walk into a book shop and be happy for the authors ...

So far I have participated in six martial arts classes. I have noticed that things are becoming more familiar, after being leg-swept I am faster at gaining my footing and some manuovres are becoming more natural and fluid. For people who are just starting out like myself and feel uncertain, something I learnt last lesson is the value of a good battle cry. For me I found that it helped me remember what I needed to do as well as boosting my confidence. Think Lagertha from Vikings when she fights, she's strong, pissed off and indomitable, a warrior queen who will fight for her people, her family and friends. I like to think I looked a bit like her. A battle cry also helps me remember what manoevers need to be done, sometimes with so much to learn I forget what I was about to do because fear of doing the wrong move clouds my mind and it's yelling at me: "You can't do this!" "Why don't you go and have a break? A permanent break." "That would...

For the past two months I have been somewhat nostalgic for the 90's - 90's fashion and 90's music. It seems like the rest of the world is missing the 90's because scrunchies are making a come-back! There is also a shop at Garden City near the skate-board shop that stocks pre-loved 90's clothes. I absolutely love that place - but be prepared to pay $40 for a novelty tee! What did I love about the 90's? I loved Britney Spears in Oops I Did It Again - I wanted that red cat-suit! My favourite song of the 90's was Pure Shores by All Saints. My favourite television show was Dawson Creek - partly because I had a huge crush on Pacey (Joshua Jackson) PS: I still do! But the other half of the attraction lay in the fact that I had to sneak into the living room at 8:30pm to watch it because Mum didn't want me watching it at such a young age but she allowed us to have the CD. I used to sing "Life's a bitch and then you diiiiie." as loudly as I cou...

This weekend just gone, I was watching Anthony Robbins documentary - I Am Not Your Guru. I was absolutely bowled over by the man himself - his gorgeous teeth, his booming voice and larger than life presence. On my little nest on the couch I watched as he helped people get to the root of their unhappiness and pain, I saw people who had dark shadows on their faces when they approached him and when they left they were crying happy tears and the clouds on their faces had lifted and you could see something that transformed inside of them. It was a truly beautiful sight to witness and I was moved tremendously at the courage of these people who stood up in front of an entire room of 25 hundred people and tell their stories, where they had come from and why they were. I had two epiphanies during and after watching I Am Not Your Guru. Tony told the audience if you are going to blame someone for the bad things, you have to praise them for the good. It can be as something simple as "Tha...

The beginning of 2019 has been full of wonderful moments and new beginnings for my family. Work is going strong and I have been spending time with beautiful friends and making new ones. It has been a rather busy start to the year and I am slowing down so I can take a breather and take care of things around the house as well as spending more time being creative. In order to keep my body strong and fit I have taken up martial arts again, it is challenging but a lot of fun. There are things that are slowly coming back to me but other aspects of picking up a close contact sport is taking some time to get used to, espeically the ground holds. Carrying a little more love on my hips and tummy does make getting out of ground holds a little trickier. If someone comes to choke me on the ground, I have to swivel my hips to the side before hooking my leg around their neck for the take-down. Believe it or not, this move is the least of my worries. Last lesson my sense of modesty was saved from ha...

"When love hurts..." these three words came to me one morning as I was deciding which yummy treat buy at my local bakery. I had just had an epiphany about the courage it takes to love other people, especially when they have hurt us. Not just in the romantic sense but with family and friendships as well. We're all human and although we are powerful beings in our own right when it comes to endurance and strength, anything can happen at anytime which is why while we are here, we need to leave a legacy of love that can still be felt even after we are gone. And to those we leave behind, they will feel that love so much that it will make their heart hurt in those moments when they miss us. That is the price we pay when we love people, whether they are gone from this world or gone from our lives. All of these things can make us feel some really intense emotions. Hurt, anger, heart-broken, numb, sadness and powerless. This is when love hurts. There may be a period of time whe...

My husband knew what he was getting into when he married me. Six years of dating and cohabitation before marriage would have clued him into the fact that his beloved wife is a little eccentric. So when I came back from my afternoon walk yesterday with the pockets of my shorts and cardigan weighed down with small rocks and carrying two rocks in my arms that weighed as much as a toddler, he didn't so much as bat an eye-lid. He watched me assemble these rocks in an Aztec blue and silver patterned bowl and complimented the arrangement. I feel that rocks are under-rated, maybe because they just blend in with the landscape. This past year or so I have been walking down this rocky track at my local park, not knowing why the thought or the sight of it made me feel grounded. During my teenage years, being 'grounded' was detrimental to my social life. Now I love that word because I have a new meaning for it. Even though I have come a long way in the past two years in terms of lis...