Life Quest (and other stuff)

I had a little breakdown this morning. No massive drama or crawling into a corner rocking back and forth (I've been there, so it is a possible outcome). It was a simple, even silly situation that sent me into a momentary downward spiral. If you read my resolutions post of a couple of days ago, you may remember point 30: Buy a swimming costume without the "pant" part - nobody is fooled regarding my thigh size (by covering it up with stretch fabric). This seemed like a reasonable and easy spot to start and when I found myself in the shops yesterday, buying supplies to "captainize" a pony toy (that's what the other kid calls customise), I popped into MrP Sport and grabbed a cozzie. On sale it was too. This morning we went swimming. My little daughter went to get my swimming costume (she is very excited about the idea of me having a "proper" one) and handed it to me, waiting in anticipation for me to put it on. I stepped in and pulled up t...

Okay, before we get into how unlikely it is that I will stick to these, here is my thought: If I don't try at all it is even more unlikely. So there. Having a conversation with a good friend the other day, I was reminded how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. Few of us will ever do anything that is remembered by anyone other than our inner circle when we move into whatever lies beyond this life. I could have taken it as "might as well go back to bed, none of what I do matter anyway," but instead I decided to  take it as "stop being so stupidly afraid of everything, my actions has little impact, so the fear, embarrassment, worry I feel about every decision and "thing" I do, has no place, coz other people very likely don't notice or don't care." That was a clumsy paragraph, but I get it. In a nutshell: barring causing deliberate pain/unhappiness to others, I am going to try to make choices that makes me happy. S...

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...

By a twist of fate I unexpectedly ended up at the Mumfordand sons concert last night, at the Grand Parade in Cape Town. Initially I thought that the Parade is a rather weird venue, but it turns out it is a rather lovely space. The sound was great and surrounding buildings and backdrop of the mountain made it rather special.  And finding parking was also no problem. There were also park and ride services available, but that had to be prebooked, and as I only found out on the day I was going, that wasn’t an option for me. Hearing some bad reviews regarding the cashless system that was used, I was a little nervous about queuing for drinks, but they must have sorted the trouble spots, as we had no trouble with the NFC payment system. I was a bit disappointed though that there was only beer, Redbul, soft drinks and water available. I would have loved a cider in the summer heat (beer is too bitter for me), so I settled for Coke and water. I was also surprised at the ...

A couple of days ago I posted my 100th picture in a #100happydays project.  It was a decent 100 days. Not without some sadness, but on the whole: good.  I ended with my little family - a selfie where all 4 or us was looking at the camera (where's the apple logo kids? - it was taken with my phone) and my son doesn't have his mouth open. That's pretty impressive.  But, and I know this is silly, I thought I would feel more of an accomplishment.  I mean, for a 100 days consecutively I took pictures and posted them to Facebook, Twitter and of course Instagram (where these kinda pics lives). Some was pretty, some was pretty awesome, some was pretty, well, mundane. But still, shouldn't I feel more... complete? So now I'm siting here wondering - where is the dramatic music? Where is the upswell to the climax? And then I realise - this is purely the start. 100 days, hardly a blimp, but enough to build on. To keep trying, to work towards the transformation I do long for. ...

So, without electricity I am lying on the couch, handled the emaily-things I had to handle for work and graduated to surfing the web on my phone (thank you mobile internet that you exist). Eventually I lost interest in the interesting and got back to reading a marketing book I have been reading on and off. One of the tips they give is to google yourself to make sure potential clients can find you if they search for you by name. Well I wasn't gonna be invited twice so a googling I went: suki lock.  First there was a Facebook hit and then my business contact page (well done me). There was some Twitter and articles I've written for Parent24.com. A photo or 2 I had at an exhibition and then an entry by Wordsmyth I have completely forgotten about caught my eye. Here is what it said: " Suki Lock is the nicest person I’ve never met. I love her blog because she is so committed to getting the most out of life. She’s always positive; she’s always striving to do better an...

So I found myself smack bang in the middle of a shopping centre around lunch time. Being a life quest blog, I should probably have tried to find a salad (healthy stuff ya know), but looking around my eye fell on Burger King. And then McDonalds.  I've only ordered food from Burger King once before. I think it was a week or two after they pitched their tent in Cape Town, and I braved the ridiculous queue, because my friend with me promised me BK food is sooo much better than McDonalds. I had my doubts. You see, I eat McDs, and she usually avoids it. So I didn't think she is the best judge. But, the only way I could know for sure was to try it. And, the idea of onion rings did help. I love me some onion rings. So we queued. And I got my food. And, I was not surprised. In my opinion it tasted the same as McDonalds. "Will you eat BK again?" I asked my friend. "Yes, I would," she responded. "But it tastes the same as McDs," I said. "Now it doesn...