It's Been A While...

It's been a while since my last post and I have to apologize for being away so long. It was not my intention and I've had several fun ideas for posts during that time... So much can happen in two months and I wish I had some amazing news about some fabulous thing that happened to keep me away, but mostly I have just been stuck under the thumb of a big, bad migraine. :-(

I am just now crawling out of that black hole. For those of you lucky enough to avoid headaches and migraines, it might be difficult to understand the sheer joy and happiness of that day when you finally do not have a headache. But let me just tell you, it feels, literally, amazing. Like you can conquer the world, or at least that you can conquer the daily commuters on the subway. I've been trying to commute to work by bike as much as possible so I can avoid all of the smells and sounds of the city that have a tendency to drill holes into my already sensitive head. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out for me to ride my bike and I just have to endure.

So what else have I been up to in two month's time? I started a graphic design class (grafisk design in Swedish) and I am absolutely loving it. Not only is it fun and invigorating but it has been a wonderful distraction from the headache suffering, and it is opening wonderful new creative paths to explore along my journey. It has only been a few weeks so far but I can already tell that the skills I am learning now will help open doors into a future full of creativity and joy. I can't wait!

Here are a couple of photos:

Well, tomorrow is my birthday and I hope to take some time to reflect on the past year, on my trials and tribulations, my joys, my sorrows, and just in general how the last year has been and who I've become as a result. I will also be flying to London with a friend for the weekend so I should have some interesting reviews (on our botanical afternoon tea at Intercontinental & dinner at NOPI) to report. :-D

Looking Forward... and Looking Present

I love having something to look forward to. Whether it be a vacation or trip, a holiday to be celebrated with family, a friends visit, a birthday party or other festivity, going to a dance performance, or trying a new restaurant, among hundreds of other fun things. But what I've been thinking about more and more lately is the fact that in looking forward to these events I often cheat myself out of just enjoying the everyday passage of time. I often find that in the anticipation leading up to an event, that precious hours, minutes seconds, even days of my life merely fly by as I "can't wait" for the next big thing to happen.

My anticipation and longing for the weekends is included in this “looking forward to” madness. Sometimes I feel like I live merely for the weekends (& other events that I look forward to). Every other day is just some nuisance that I have to endure before work ends on Friday and I am free to do whatever I want for two days. But lately I have been thinking more and more about the time in between weekends, holidays, vacations, and other “looked forward to” festivities, and I’ve realized that the time in between is just as precious. 

Every moment of our lives is time that we get to enjoy our families, friends, and the beautiful planet we live on. What if instead of constantly “looking forward” to the next big thing we “look present” instead? I realize this can be difficult when some big event or happening we’ve yearned for is fast approaching, but humor me and just try “looking present” every day this week and see if anything changes. See if you experience Monday differently, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, etc. 

Maybe a new perspective will present itself. Perhaps you’ll see that you have time for smaller things during the days of the week, such as taking the time to handwrite a letter to someone you love, or telephoning a friend you haven’t spoken to it months. Look and see what opens up for you! And then report back to me what you’ve discovered. I will do the same later in the week!

Happy Monday!