Wishing you all well....

At some point during the last days of every year, I usually get a bit heavy hearted. My grandma used to tease me by saying that nothing is worse than a row of good days. With Christmas having been just absolute bliss this year, I think I am quite probably suffering from the Post Christmas Blues. Oh, well, it could be worse. After all, there is something to look forward to as well. Hurray Happy New Year !!!

Merry, uh happy, Christ...Seasons...Greetings!

When you live part of your life abroad or, as in our case, you have done a fair amount of moving around your entire life, culture, norms, and rules become somewhat relative. At the same time, you come to realize that you will probably never become fully part of one culture. Although you may have put in a good effort, remembering all the national holidays, national pass times, types of jokes and favorite foods and even if you have read up on history, watched enough Soaps and explored every corner of the country there is, there will always be something you didn’t know yet. But then, in the meantime the challenge is to make it through the first five minutes of small talk by getting amazingly good at remembering enormous amounts of trivia like what goes into a Chirstmas Pudding, what do Americans watch on Christmas Day? I can’t remember either.

Red-nosed

London is ablaze with lights and glitz, and a jolly good time we had! To all of you a very happy holiday!

Smiles....

"Thank you for being a thinking person! M."

Blame me...

Supposedly when relationships are grinding to a halt it is good to take a step back and survey the tangled mess from a safe distance. Negative patterns, recurring triggers and defense mechanisms might become more discernible that way. Supposedly, this makes it easier to find solutions that help break patterns and establish early warning systems so painful gridlocks can be prevented. But what if one side thrives on negativity? What if they feel bereft of their regular doses of adrenalin once the old patterns are under revision and the ready flow of bale dwindles? There are enough people, who love strife and the platform for vitriolic diatribe it provides for their ego and let me tell you, they won’t thank you for your thoughtful recalibration....

Quench your tears....

...’cause you gonna run dry at some point, dear Americans. Newton, Connecticut is another sad event in the American history of violence, but it was predictable and predictably there will more of that as long as we let our boys grow up in environments that lead to reduced impulse inhibition (see the many studies on the effects of computer gaming for instance) and...did you guess it already...GUNS!! Really, it’s pretty simple - no need to talk about the multiple causes, aggravated circumstances, and aspects of what just happened AGAIN. Also, no need to talk about how target shooting is a fine sport! Wake up guys - and gals. This is embarrassing!!!

LifeCycles

Life appears to be cyclical when we surpass the idea of finality by way of spirituality or when we allow ourselves to see it as natural phenomenon common to all life. As such, it is a constant force of maturation and rejuvenation. As humans, we can consciously experience these phases as we pass through them. This is a unique gift, an ability not shared by any other species on Earth. It brings with it the potential for love through empathy, but at the same time it also carries the seed for hatred and strife, when we succumb to our fear of finality - death. Humanity is alone in its knowledge of death and as long as we fear it, this can be a great loneliness indeed. However, when we surmount that fear and instead choose to share this collective experience, we learn to embrace life as a constant stream, a coming and going of all that is. One could say that by consciously experiencing the flow of life, one holds the key to embracing all life that is, indeed it may be the beginning of true life.