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Remembering what matters: on being social, school troubles and birthdays
Currently there’s about three planets residing in or near the realms of Aquarius, including the sun. That means we all get to experience a lot of Aquarian qualities. And if you don’t know what these are, I’ll give you a hint – the representatives of this zodiac sign are called “the social butterflies” of the zodiac wheel. No wonder I haven’t been able to get to my blog in ages. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been quiet on the social front. Besides ruling social groups and settings, Aquarius also rules internet and technology. Yes, you guessed it – I’ve been busy communicating with people through any media possible – email, messaging, phone, and in person. And no,…
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Taking the first steps
The first steps have been taken. In fact, we’ve been making them for the last few weeks. We’ve been decluttering our house constantly and continually – we’ve brought tens of bags to the charity shops (plus small furniture items), we’ve recycled a couple of bags with old and unused electronics, and we’ve managed to put aside a couple of hundred euros from selling stuff. The house feels lighter and calmer. So do we – our small family of three. I mentioned last time that we’re taking care of the house (about 3 1/2 years now) while the owner, my partner’s grant aunt, is slowly winding down in a nursing home. Well,…
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The beginning of a new journey: embracing minimalism
Last time I finished with the promise to tell you what little steps I’ve made recently. What these new breaths of life were inspired by? But first, a teeny bit of a preface. I’ve always been quite organized and orderly with my surroundings. I love clean surfaces and tidy spaces. I’m a fan of decluttering! I didn’t realise this trait in me until I moved in with my partner in our new place a few years ago. The truth is, though, that this place isn’t ours, it’s my partner’s grant aunt’s place, and we’re taking care of it while she’s slowly winding down in a nursing home. We are immensely grateful…
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A new breath of life
Well, it’s been a while… Too many things are happening and too little, I’ve got loads of things I want to write about and share. Funny enough, I’m not getting frustrated at all, as what I would normally do. I do in fact enjoy savouring and simmering (2 of my new favourite words) all the thoughts, ideas, information bits and bytes I’ve gathered along the last few weeks. This is a slow down time for my zodiac sign Virgo and all Virgonians, as we’re hosting two planets in a retrograde mode. Mercury and Jupiter are both slowing us down and giving us the chance to re-think, re-consider, re-organise – you get…
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A hopeful start and a pat on the back
The New 2016 Year is here! Happy new beginnings to all! Before I start fully focusing on what’s coming this year I’d like to reflect on what was achieved and accomplished during 2015. I was scribbling a draft on December 31st and finished it at 11:49 pm. I was quick to go to bed, where my son and partner were already asleep, before it was New Year because I didn’t want to greet it on my own. The draft was a sort of a painfully honest personal rant. I wrote it down for myself and part of it included some very practical resolutions we’ve made in our household (understand: laundry…
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Saying Thanks
WordPress recently wrote to me 🙂 Among other things, the main thing they said was: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 500 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 8 trips to carry that many people. 500 times, hooray! That’s 19 countries in all! Most visitors came from Bulgaria. Ireland & United Kingdom were not far behind. What I’d like to say is: Thank you all! I may not know you, or some of you I know well, but I’m grateful you were here. For me. Happy celebrations to you all. I’ll see you on the other side! Nazdrave! Sláinte!…
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Learning to love ourselves
Learning to love yourself is probably one of the hardest things we will have to do in life. Some never get to enjoy the feeling of self-love. Others are lucky to have built it slowly for themselves. And third have experienced the bliss of growing up in a loving environment and cultivating self-love along the way.In any case, living your life without loving yourself could hardly be called living. And, more or less, we’re all here to learn to love in one way or another. I’ve always struggled with self-esteem, self-worth and self-love. I didn’t realise how crucial these qualities are until recently, and how they affect all spheres of…
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Being present: getting to know and love ourselves
I’d like to talk about my experience of being present and how I came around it. Something that wasn’t only a realisation in my mind but a feeling in my body as well. A knowledge of how one IS when they are present in the moment. I have started doing some regular meditation sessions. I’m using an app called Headspace, and without being affiliated with the company – I’d recommend it to anyone. When you sign up you start with ten meditation sessions lasting 10 minutes each. When you finish these you can continue to the next ten 15-minute meditation sessions. And then off to the 20-minute long ones. So in…
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On gratitude
The idea about this blog post originated around the time of Thanksgiving in late November. At the time the internet space was saturated with materials on gratitude, compassion, kindness and gratefulness. I loved the talks and articles that were coming up all over the media and I enjoyed being reminded of those basic values and eternal truths. In Ireland we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. We get the vibe but we don’t get to organise get-togethers. Which could be good and bad. I know that for some getting together with the family could be a tricky experience. In my own case – my family of origin isn’t around. My father lives in…
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Year 2015: what it brought to my family and what it taught me
I am going to talk to my son’s teacher tomorrow. My son, Sylvian, is nearly 3 years old and he is going to a Montessori preschool. I prefer to call it just “school” and the people taking care of him there – teachers.I want to talk to her, I will call her Jackie, and give her some background information. But let me give you some information about my son first. He started at this school in late September and he’s going 5 mornings a week for 3 hours. At the beginning he was thrilled to go there. It was a new place that’s not home and is full of toys…
