Stopping Off

Joy is my chant...

Wandering around Covent Garden is good for the soul. Buying lunch from the food market on a Thursday in August has to be done at least once in your life. Sitting in St Paul's Church garden, eating tomato and basil foccacia was a delight. Inspired by my trip to Neal's Yard I decided to start my latest project. I painted a trellis gold, wrapped orchid fairy lights around and hung it on the wall in my bedroom. I'll keep filling it up with nick nacks as time goes on.

Almonds before dusk

Climbing up a small mountain, heading for a destination and being sidetracked by an almond tree. Grab two rocks and you've got yourself an almond. Walk on, and you've got yourself the most beautiful view. Over July I have been working in Spain, the Priorat region where I lived in a small village with a Spanish family. In thirty days I absorbed the language, the unique wine and family life. It was a stunningly beautiful area full of culture which I relished.

Walking the streets of Barcelona on my own, drinking up art in the MNAC and having a Cafe con Leche beneath La Pedrera will provide perfect stories to whip out at a dinner party, or perhaps the nursing home. European chic was finally attainable! In our 20s we have three things available to us ; freedom, beauty and choice. We're at liberty to do what we want in our long holidays, albeit on a somewhat limited budget. But beauty all around us willing us to explore it; in people and places. And we have choices. Or at least the situations we encounter will force us to choose our standing in the world. What do we study? Who do we vote for? Where do we live? Living in one of the richest societies of the Western World, maybe we underestimate this final privilege of relatively unrestricted choice. What I've taken away from my time on the Continent is that we don't have to rush this. We can take a moment to enjoy an almond before rushing to the summit.

It's funny actually the constant 'race against time' attitude I've encountered recently. Someone told me that if you don't act quickly after you graduate your degree goes cold. Act now, quickly. Your freedom (how much freedom a good salary can buy) depends on it. Beauty awaits (in the style of a freshly pressed shirt fitting for the boardroom). Make that decision. It's a dog eat dog world, where the snarl of competition is followed by the dreaded crunch of the economy. Even in the most beautiful place in Spain there is a great competition between winemakers and olive oil producers. It's just that their day makes time for a siesta in it. A time to rest.xx

Snapshots

Poetry

Was simplicity discarded and wisdom replaced?
Searching for something but losing the way.
It is the disregard of the subtleties;
chipped bricks, broken locks and falling trees.
I found pictures with beds on grubby ground,
Not theatre tickets or modern sounds.
I held out pursuit but for little reward
Only found a broken suitcase and a dusty record.

Carriageways and clothes, a legacy for the mo.
‘Please Sir, I heard it’s the fight that you loathe.'
It is the disregard of humanity;
dirty water, broken hearts and desperate pleas.
‘Finding the things you thought you knew
Forty-six years was a long time for us too.
Clutching at peace but an order too tall
Satisfied with cans and wheat and a new football.’

Turning the page doesn’t always bring perspective,
Something haunting when rejection looms.
‘I try to disregard comparisons;
glossy pictures, special meals and crafted songs.
I want to be there, sat next to you
but not with patronising talks taken at face value.
A genuine presence, perhaps till death do us part.
So I’ll wait, I’ll wait for that call on my heart.

Well this is it, reached another decade now. I wonder if something exciting might happen along the way ~ hope so! xx