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Simpler times in the village.
Good for you Ricky! Handing all that cash to the cute little puppies and pussy cats. But what about all the kids and humans that are going to have to hear your 'jokes' being retold by assholes?
Perimenopause is one of those times in life that a woman needs group wisdom and direction – some messy answers to some very messy messy questions.
This is when a team vageen steps in.
I had stayed a year longer than I planned to and it showed.
Whether it’s health, animal welfare, kiddie education, the environment or reducing poverty - there are so many ways to make a feel-good contribution and a difference in Bali.
So how do you maintain the connection, the communication and the closeness when you aren’t even in the same hemisphere? It can be done – but like all things that are worth it, it just isn’t easy. It takes time, patience, effort, forward planning a HUGE dose of trust and good humour.
If there is one thing I understand - it is that Mother's Day is not a universal concept.
So what happens when work dries up, you realise you can no longer afford to live in the city you were born in, you can’t sustain a healthy quality of life there anymore and you have to make a choice to leave behind family and friends?
On International Women's Day I can only add this.
As a woman
1. you are only as good as your pit crew, your tribe, your inner circle of badass renegade chicks and queens….
As birthdays go this one was definitely a bonus for me and more meaningful than most. For a start, through some form of airline miracle and compassionate grounds, I am in Australia for it…
It has been 142 days and I am officially a ninja-level quarantiner.
For me having a contract with the human race means you participate, you care, you show empathy towards the vulnerable.
So my take on all this: this is not an edifying time or way to travel - this is not a time to jaunt around - this is something you do because you really have to. There is nothing lighthearted or free-spirited about sitting in ghostly airports that have taped off areas or having to go through this kind of rigmarole to enter or stay in a country. There is no holiday vibe about all this.
It is official - Australia has closed its borders and had a compassion bypass.
We have not moved freely in our condo building since March 18, 2020. Three weeks ago I was still wearing a mask just to take the garbage down the hall. Today was the day things became slightly normal - today was the day everything opened up in the building again.
After all this time I have basically become a rare Greek/ Serb mushroom that now meditates a lot.
All of us who have overstayed our visas are still waiting on what our fate will be. No one knows if we will have to leave on non-existent flights within 14 days or we will get a blanket clearance until end of August.
63 days ago I moved house during very uncertain times both personally and globally. Into a new fab little condo in Penang and even though the 3 ring shit show circus had rolled into Fotinitown…
From 4 billion people at home around the world, we have got it down to about 2.4 billion. Winning. Of course, each day brings changes and adaptations, confusion, frustration, relief, disappointment, sadness, resignation, negotiations and eventual half-hearted acceptance
Take a ride on the coronacoaster - where in the beginning, it's like a retreat - by Day 50 you are climbing walls and it becomes a form of punishment and you need to social distance from yourself.
Lady Gaga said " social media is the toilet of the internet " and I have to agree. Just like anything we participate in - it is all about mindful consumption, keeping it real and having boundaries.
There hasn't been enough incense, cacao or coconut oil on Earth to calm down some keyboard theorists
For those of us who are expats looking in from other parts of the world - we all shake our heads and say 'you actually are not even in a lockdown yet - so why is this so hard to manage or understand?'
For those around the world that are doing the same as me ( no not you Australia ) you well know that there is nothing quite like seeing the finishing line in sight and then they move it back another 10 000m - repeatedly. It is a mind-bender.
It has taken 35 days of isolation alone in an apartment that I had just moved into - with 5 books and no access to outside amenities anymore - to formulate a basic routine and a mental pattern that works for me.