Filed under: Photos
so it’s time to connect myself to the greater world again … i write this with a glass of wine in hand and some olives on order, with the smell and sight of the mediterranean waves crashing on the shore beside
so i’m in crete right now … arrived yesterday and will stay for … well long enough for it to feel homely anyway. and this is the fab thing about a camping ground in greece. there are loads of huge extended greek families making up excessive amounts of moussaka, tzakiki, greek salad and dishing up bowls of home marinated olives, and pouring glasses of wine from the family vineyards … and these are moments when being on your own is not too bad, because the invites abound! you know people often ask me if i’m not too lonely wandering the wonderful places of the world solo, and my answer is well of course! … but only rarely, and only when you allow yourself the luxury of considering it … but if you keep moving, and seeing and soaking and smelling and just living really, the people and smells and sights … from the bite of a fresh olive, to the sea breeze after a run down the mountain, to the smile of an old man tending his tomatoes, to the genorisity and sharing of communities from friends that are met along the way, to the enlivening crispness of seaspray for a morning wakeup session, to a warm coffee on a chilly morning made with love from special people … these things invigorate and bring warmth. and when you consider the fortunate world that i and the worlds of most of the people that can read this upload live in, i truly believe that we don’t have the right to feel sad, or lonely, or hard done by, or … any of those sorts of things. and even if those moments are true for a moment, well we don’t have the right to sit and dwell on them. because the very fact that we have the gift of a moment to sit and reflect on them means we are in a small percentage of the world that is lucky … super lucky. and it is our duty to recognise that and to embrace the world that we have and to take advantage and use every second of it … and if it doesn’t bring joy, then we need to change it. because how lucky are we that we have the possibility of changing and choosing and reflecting and considering and actually having options in what we do have.
well those words came out of nowhere and no doubt i am preaching to myself a bit there and for that, i’m glad the words were found
so the quick overview … and if you want to know more you can ask, or you already have asked
the month of may was spent in athens, working on some projects, ideas, creativity, international connections etc with a film production company in greece … olyvon … all people i met at the olympus marathon last year. the month was amazing … i learnt heaps, my mind opened to a realm of new interesting artistic possibilities, the people welcomed me amazingly and were completely gorgeous … and you know it was just fun operating a western existence for a bit. i really found great joy in jumping on the metro every morning, am coffee in hand from my local, ipod in hand while smiling at some of the regulars, lunch in the sun with the busyness of the world around … yeah that was nice. and then athens was amazing. the place i stayed was fab … only 2kms from the acropolis and so many amazing unexpected hills, ancient ancient sites, views, parks, places to run (these were truly my favourite moments) and natasha, the girl i shared with was gorgeous at sharing some night venues and friends which was so enjoyable, and the local markets and the olives and nuts and wine and fetta … all so delightful. and the greek people … so much joy and over expression of emotion constantly … but coming from a culture of under expression of emotion, i truly soaked it up.
the last couple of weeks saw me in berlin … there was a conference on the conflict between politics and religion in the context of women’s rights which was totally interesting and wonderful to have opportunity to discuss with a whole realm of people … from the spanish catholic nun in favour of abortion and homosexuality to the pakistani lady running a women’s rights group in pakistan to a polish women’s rights author … to a thousand people in between. was really inspiring interesting brain broadening on so many levels … and brought so many new angles to the study i am currently doing. had a few assignments due in the last week which saw me having several large days and nights … but fortunately i was staying with some lovely pals i met while in thailand earlier this year and they looked after me fabulously and ensured there was always tasty espressos and amazing cuisine on offer at every moment. and once again they shared their community and world which was equally as joyful as athens and was wonderful to feel the warmth that comes with that. unfortunately the sun decided not to show itself fairly much the whole time i was there, so i had to make a move to a warmer part of the world again! so i found the cheapest flight on offer out of berlin … which has landed me in crete. and i know i am a truly lucky girl and so i am living breathing smelling soaking and smiling at it all, which lets face it, is just not that difficult in a place such as this.
and you know i haven’t taken a single photo since in europe. why you ask? because my constantly moving changing existence at the moment is my reality and home and when you’re home you don’t run around collecting pictures of every second. you live and breathe and let life happen and store wonderful memories of people and moments in time … and that’s what i need to do at the moment … and it’s nice this way for the time being. oh and let’s not forget the acdc bogan olympic stadium fabulous moment in athens and the depeche mode time in berlin … both absolutely stand out moments on such different scales!
well that was a whole lot of conscious and unconscious thought speaking there … scan the bits that speak to you and skip the rest. but grab hold of the sentiment behind it.
kisses to all kdec x
