Friendships

I grew up traveling around the world due to my father's job... always changing schools... I attended 14 to be precise (!)... Therefore, it was perfectly 'normal' for friends to come and go... I always got used to being the 'new kid in class'...

I found myself sighing and saying: "here we go again, time to make a new group of friends"... I remember always getting 'addresses' before I left, and having friends scattered around the globe with whom my mom would help me write regular  letters to....

I strived through these friendship difficulties and I believe these experiences have made me who I am today... I am definitely not one who has a 'big gang of acquittances', but a select few close, meaningful friends... Which I find to be more real...

The moments I experience with close friends are like a fairy tale... It's always an amazing feeling when you not only discover friends who 'enjoy what you enjoy', but people who truly understand you and vice versa....

But, it always felt like just when the friendship was being sealed, it was also time to take our final picture for remembrance as one of us would move on to another part of the world...

But, thus is the 'expat' life, so they say...

Now with social networking, there are so many ways to check where your old friends are and I have luckily managed to keep in touch with many around the world... and strangely enough, you gradually begin to realize what a small place we live in... paths cross and people meet for various reasons at different times in their lives...

I am thankful for the many wonderful friends I have worldwide... you are all special to me in many unique and wonderful ways...

I was browsing some photos of myself and close friends... weirdly discovering the ones I have posted below have strange coincidence's attached to them... we have all crossed paths in life at various times... Incredible :-)

Sarah - friendship in two continents... my oldest friend :)

Middle East girls re-united 

Dubai - Bahrain ... and back to Dubai ? ... :)

Road-tripping with the girls, UAE

Belle Jordan 

Do you remember?

Do you remember when we first met?

I sure do

It was some time

In early September

You were lazy about it

You made me wait around

I was so crazy about you

I didn't mind

So I was late for class

I locked my bike to yours

It wasn't hard to find

You painted flowers on

Guess that I was afraid

That if you rode away

You might not roll back

My direction real soon

Well I was crazy about you then

And now the craziest thing of all

Over 10 years have gone by

And you're still mine

We're locked in time

Let's rewind

Do you remember

When we first moved in together?

The piano took up the living room

You'd play me boogie woogie

I played you love songs

You'd say we're playing house

Now you still say we are

We built our get away

Up in a tree we found

We felt so far away

Though we were still in town

Now I remember watching

That old tree burn down

I took a picture that

I don't like to look at

Well all these times

They come and go

Alone don't seem so long

Over 10 years have gone by

We can't rewind

We're locked in time

But you're still mine

Do you remember?

Inner Beauty

I read these beautiful and meaningful verses today and they made me smile... how oh so true yet so simple...

There is an inner beauty about a woman

who believes in herself, who knows she 

is capable of anything she puts her mind to...

There is a beauty in the strength and 

determination of a woman who follows

her own path, who isn't thrown off by

obstacles along the way...

There is a beauty

about a woman whose confidence comes

from experiences; who knows she can

fall, pick herself up, and go on...

Economics of Happiness...

This is your life. Do what you love and do it often. 

If you don't like something, change it. 

If you don't like your job, quit.

If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop;

They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.

Stop over analyzing. Life is simple.

All emotions are beautiful. 

When you eat, appreciate every last bite.

Open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people,

We are united in our differences.

Ask the next person you see what their passion is.

And share your inspiring dream with them.

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.

Some opportunities only come once, seize them.

Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating.

Life is short, live your dream and wear your passion.

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday and am wishing I could have gone to the morning church service here on the island at St. Christopher's Cathedral ... Our family tradition is to go to church together, obtain our palm leaves and start the celebrations of Easter... In religious terms, Palm Sunday is always a week before Easter Sunday and celebrates the feast when Jesus entered Jerusalem...

I hope everyone has a beautiful day wherever your are :-)

Inspirational Noah...

I have always been intrigued by this interesting project... A man called Noah photographed himself everyday for six whole years... (From January 11, 2000 - July 31, 2006) and collated the images together to produce a youtube video... Dedication!

Art turns the world...

I have always loved ted.com... Lots of inspiring and interesting clips for educational and personal browsing... Throughout my postgrad, I referenced many of Ken Robinson's work, my favourite piece of his 'How Schools Kill Creativity'... Ironic but true...

Browsing the site before bedtime I discovered this intriguing artist 'JR' whose goal is to show the world its 'true face' by pasting photos of the human face across huge canvases... Face-to-face demonstrates what people thought impossible ... 

Check it out if you have time :-)

JR's TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out | Video on TED.com

A home without books... Is a body without soul

I like nothing more than to curl up in my comfy 'malm' or on my sofa with a good book... When I become immsered in a tale, I simply cannot put it down - that book will go everywhere with me... I remember when I was younger and I used to ask my parents if I could politely continue reading whilst we ate dinner as I was glued to the plotline...

I also love to share books with loved ones and friends... An old or used book has so much character...

I am currently reading the 'Bookseller of Kabul' which I am enjoying but hasn't got that 'gripping edge' to it which I thrive on... I cannot read half of a book though so I am determined to finish it :-)

As I am a teacher, reading is part of my daily life.. and I like nothing more than in a lesson, to sit my children around me on the carpet and read them a story... No matter how hyper or fiddley they are, they all stop and listen intently... They are so eager to hear the end and become wide-eyed at the adventure being read to them... This doesn't have to be an English class... I taught Geography today and a lovely young girl in my class had concidently brought in a book on Asian folk tales so I read them a wonderful story set in Sri-Lanka about a one-eyed monster trying to scare villagers away from the farm land... They loved it :-)

This simple activity reminds me why I love my job so much....

Dalai Lama's 18 Rules For Living

At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama apparently issued eighteen rules for living... and what wise words they are...

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. 

3. Follow the three Rs:

- Respect for self

- Respect for others

- Responsibility for all your actions

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Free Hugs!

On the subject of hugs - i've always been inspired by Juan Mann...

He simply had a mission - to hug as many people as possible and brighten up their lives! In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, this idea became a worldwide phenomen... I feel the simplicity of this idea is just beautiful... Its the small things like this in life which really make you smile... I know how I feel if I recieve a letter instead of an email... or a card instead of an e-card... even a printed photograph instead of a digital image...

On another note, I funnily enough was able to experience this 'free hug' madness myself... I spotted a group carrying plackards in Camden, London one summer... It made my day :-)

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need

After having 'one of those days'... I couldn't have been more thankful than to have a special person to support me through and just make it seem like a new bright day... I really feel very lucky right now :-)

PostSecret

I first discovered this amazing project a couple of years ago - it intrigued me... PostSecret is an online collection of anonymous postcards holding a secret never revealed...

There is one rule: it has to be a secret which is completely truthful and must never have been spoken before...

As you can imagine, the variety of content submitted is immense... Secret desires, embarassing habits, hopes, dreams, sexual miscondct and even criminal activity...

The idea of this is to 'empower or maybe inspire?' the author (Frank Warren) and those who read it...

This website has obviously encountered a lot of controversy but it still continues to thrive today... There is also books avaliable displaying some of the more interesting entries...