Life Quest (and other stuff)

Sometimes it seems like the universe is trying to tell you something. Often, we are too "busy" with our own "stuff" to pay proper notice. Other times, we notice, but since the message doesn't fit with what we believe we want, we actively ignore it.  On occasion we are ready to listen, and I think that might be be the case for me this time.  You are most likely aware of the saying: less is more. Simple words, often applied to the design world I live in.  I hear and use this phrase relating to my job quite frequently, but now I think I am ready to persue it as a way of life.  The idea has been presented to me in multiple forms in the past few months.  A close friend packing up her life to move to a new country.  A client sharing the concept of perma-culture with me.  A weekend stargazing trip with great conversation and skies that left me in awe.  Even the awareness of the value of every drop of wate...

After the cold sore disaster I had every intention to get back on track. Well. I didn't. Not only did the cold sore not leave me alone, but I realised today that actually, it's already week 10 and week 9 has simply slipped by me. So, in an attempt to redeem myself, some pics I took of myself well before starting this project. All taken with my iPhone. Three of them well after dark. Edited a little in PhotoShop, but in truth, not really worth it on these images. Put on some frames to try and look professional... I'll try harder this week, but it's already Wednesday. Busy busy busy. But Happy. What is the 52 week project about?

I'm being tested... After typing a rather hefty post, my lovely browser decided to crash. I was not worried, because blogger claimed it did save the post. As Murphy would have it, the title and labels where intact, but the complete body: just gone. Add to this the fact that I usually type my blog posts in a word processor and then just paste when I upload, but (of course) today didn't, this would be the perfect time to grab the screen and plunge it through the nearest window. But, to quote Alanis Morissette, it is a little bit ironic (or maybe just coincidence?), because the missing post was about not getting angry. No way I can get angry now...

Update: January: Being happy – more happy than not (except yesterday, which was a sad day). February: Sexy sleep wear – got nice winter ones. March: Read squash rules – read it, been sick and not playing, will start next week again. April: Donate clothes - Done. May: Plant flowers - see pic below. (Was planted last day of May - still counts!) And so we get to June And yes, I realise that we have almost made it through this month of June, but the resolution is intact, because I have already started on it. So, you say, get to the point: what do you want for June? Well. That's exactly it. What do I want for June? What do I want for any month of the year? What do I want from life? What do I want? So I started looking at this question. And I'm even trying to answer it. And it's during the answering that I realised this is not something you complete in a month. But because of the potential scope, it is something we often side step. Ignore. Hide from. And 20 y...

(Ode - according to en.wiktionary.org: A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; esp., now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style. So apart from the sentiment this isn't really an ode at all. Oh well. ) Yesterday I watched my weekly fix of Grey’s Anatomy and House. Both shows referred to Thanks Giving. Now, here in SA we don’t celebrate a specific Thanks Giving day, but as we are approaching Easter, I figure today is as good a day as any to count my blessings. And as so many times before there is one “thing” that often comes to the foreground. Hubbie. Hubbie and I have been married for about six and a half years. And looking back over this time, it confirms we have a good life together. Both of us have grown over the years, for the better I believe. We have grown together, grown closer. There is a problem though. I can’t tell him about anything that I want, coz he will make a plan to get it for me. Oka...

Okay, okay. So being happy is so far a resolution I seem to be able to mostly keep. But ya know, it's a pretty big resolution. So I decided to have a few smaller ones. One of them, more by necessity than exact choice, is to be better with plants. Hubbie and I planted the first crops of our new veg and herb garden (nope, not an euphemism), which means that if I would like to live the dream of eating a homemade pizza topped with homemade veggies and herbs, I better get all green fingery. Not something I am by birth. But that aside, my resolution for February is this: Sexy sleepwear. Stop looking so confused. Sexy sleepwear. I know that hubbie will love me always and always, purple nighty covered in teddy bears and all, but I want to feel sexier. Do you remember that scene in Memoirs of a Geisha where she made the chap fall off his bicycle with a single look? Now I'm not looking to make people fall off anything, but as cute as my teddy bears are, not very empowering...

On Sunday night I met up with some friends to have silly conversations and eat too much sushi (if there is such a thing). At some point the conversation got serious. My friend across the table from me stated that turning 40 in a few weeks time actually is a big thing for her. That "40" is really the first time an age seems to matter. Of course, I'll be turning 30 about 2 weeks earlier, and although I don't see it as old, I do ask myself what I have to show for it. And now, after a fun (partly serious) evening with old (that's long-time) friends, I suddenly feel like an idiot for asking. What do I need to show? Do I want to sky-dive or climb Kilimanjaro? I have sky-dived and my sister climbed that specific mountain, so I guess that's covered. Do I want to be famous? Well, 2 (maybe even 3) people read this blog, so close enough. Do I want to be rich? Sure. But why this drive to say: "well done" and give ourselves a gold star? Do we really need to be th...

Since this is my blog, I guess I can write about whatever I want. Yes? Yes. The thing is, in the end the title I chose is Life Quest (and other stuff) and NOT O ther Stuff (and life quest) . I seemed to have forgotten this a little, so here goes an attempt to get back on track. (Deep breath, here I go.) What do I want from life? Happiness: definitely. Wealth: enough to be comfortable. Cheese: of course. Is that it? Should that be it? How do I get it? Mmmm, time to dust of the cobwebs from my cranial cavity and do some thinking. What do they say... Have you ever stopped to think and forgot to start again?

Happiness can come in many different forms. It does not need to be complicated. It is okay (and often needed) to find joy in the most simplistic of places. Like hitting every one of the 338 notes in the medium level for bass of Rock band on the iPhone, for the song All the small things by Blink 182 . I did that this morning. A flawless groove. It can be something that simple that sets the tone for the rest of the day. Something that simple that make problems seem dim. Something that simple can show you that you have not crossed to the dark side, that life still holds hope. Quite fitting that the song is called All the small things , don't you think.