Desiderata tells it like it should be.

Go placidly amid the noise & haste, & remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietlly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant have their story. *Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. *Keep interest in the changing fortunes of time Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. *Be yourself. Especially,  do not feign attention. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. *Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. *You are a child of the universe, no less then the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. *Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. *With all it's sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Dated 1692.. and still applicable and very true. Isn't that fantastic??

Monday nights with the girls

Taking advantage of this beautiful new, temporary home, I've been having the girls over on Monday evenings to work on projects. Honestly, it's the best excuse to get things done. I think "thank you" & birthday cards are important. And I hate store bought ones. I decided  to build myself a stash. Here's what I'm working on lately..

Loving it.

Yes, please.

A lot has happened since my last post, yet I can't quite figure out what it is I want to say.  My heart feels full and I think if someone wanted to listen, I could talk for hours. For now, all I have to say is I am a very lucky girl.

 I am so grateful for the people who surround me. My loving, hilarious little German boy, our new roommate  and all the meals we've shared. "Friday night coffee and Saturday night tea" is the best way I can describe life in this gorgeous apartment. The pace, it seems, has slowed right down since we've made it ours. I feel so relaxed and at home in this house, with these boys.  The space always seems to fill itself up with beautiful people.

I've been practising listening to my gut and acting on it and this summer's proven to be a success because of that. The cool crisp air is making me want to reorganize everything, give away clothes, get rid of useless things, blow the dust off my projects.. It's September Syndrome. Back to school. Harvesting. New projects. Cleansing time. I just want to be outside. I am, hands down, an autumn lover.

Our last adventure was in Port Felix, NS. Daniel was brave and ventured out with my father and I for a few days to meet up with aunt Carmel at her summer house on the south-east shore of NS. My great aunt Rosa, whom I absolutly love to hang out with, met us there with her husband Herman (also German) with a lovely couple of their friends. It was funny to hear the two foreigners speak to each other in their mother tongue. Something I've never seen Herman do, as long as I've known him! Ironically, the 50+ kept us awake all night, both nights. I love my family.

Carmel has a thing for building mini Inukshuks.. they look out on the water.

Cast iron.

This week I finally made the jump and went to see who will now be my regular.. energy.. worker? (for lack of a better word to describe her work). I won't even try to explain what it is she does because it always comes out sounding strange and weirds people out. All I can say is that I went from thinking I am superwoman and can handle everything, to realizing that I am human and need to break down and show weakness, too. It's really hard to let myself accept that I'm not on top of everything.

I had a lot of time to think while riding the European country side (thanks to Christine for listening to me think out loud for over a month) and decided I was sick of old patterns. During our session, Km was on the ball with all of that. She mentioned my desire to control situations in order to not be disappointed by others, only I can disappoint Me. Makes sense. Also she mentioned my inability to develop relationships, preferring to keep things short and sweet as to not get distracted, disappointed and eventually hurt. Keeping my schedule nice and overloaded allows me to have an excuse not to see the people in my life, which facilitates the above mentioned. I was blown away by our session. These were the things she said, that stood out the most on my list of priorities of things to deal with. I felt stoned for hours afterwards. The only thing I could think of was "yeah, I knew all that, now what?" It's nice to hear someone solidify your thoughts, make them go from fuzzy gray to black on white.

So I've decided to do something about it. Why not. I am putting an effort into letting things happen. Just, happen by themselves. Like that, like magic. Apparently it's been working for thousands of years. We'll see.
I've simplified my schedule and left open spaces for.. whatever it is that is just supposed to "happen" now. Km told me to pay attention to details, notice what is different, what is changing. And I have. I've noticed that I react differently in what would have been uncomfortable situations before. My brain process is more relaxed, less logical. I am, however, finding it very difficult to stay still. My next challenge could be mediation! Sitting still, and not doing anything (sorry to the meditators out there, I realize it's more then that!) Of course it's a slow process, but I feel like this isn't just a sack of shit. These realizations feel good and right and like it's going to make me a more complete and humble being.

I am happy to say that help is coming to the Hostel, and in much larger numbers then I thought. This means I will be able to retire myself from the inside and concentrate on the logistics, finally. AND FREE TIME! I am waiting for my girls to pick me up for a morning walk as we speak. Had supper on Maelstroms new terrace last night with the gang. Maybe start a new book and go shopping with myself later. Plant my garden. Mmmm.. dreamy. I have a date with my mom this week, a new bike being done up the way I want it and a hair appointment. Life is good.

It's funny how fast and efficiently you receive what you've asked for, when you put enough energy into those thoughts. I've effortlessly received a job that just so happens to challenge me in all the areas I wanted to focus on. With a boss who is going to teach me a lot and already has. Coincidentally, this also led me to meet a boy. A quite handsome one too, who is also challenging me in all the right ways.

Lot's of new everything. It looks like it's going to be a very pleasant summer.

Baby Got Back!

After a leave of absence, I'm rebuilding my relationship with my blogspot account. This makes me very happy. I've finally uploaded my trip pictures to Fbook and decorated my page with some as well.
I got offered a job at the hostel downtown (C'mon Inn Hostel) almost as soon as I came home. The new owners, (my bosses) are phenomenal. I'm so lucky to be working with/for inspiring people, at both the C'mon Inn and Sequoia. How many people can say they LOVE their boss? Between managing this place, my old hours at Sequoia with the gang and helping out friends,  I've been pretty busy. I put all my plans and projects for summer on the back burner for now, but they are still brewing in my brain somewhere, unconsciously. I now feel confident that I will be able to fully take advantage of summer, because of the brilliant, beautiful staff at the hostel. ( Thank you, thank you, thank you) We're getting shit done! The only thing I love more then making lists is checking things off of them. We are expecting quite a few new staff within the next couple weeks. SO EXCITING.

                                         As of now, I can look forward to the following;

• Laying in the sun at Emery Leger (above photo), camping with the girls, Steph's cottage (fingers crossed), BBQ's on the hostel patio, music project with Gilles & Marty, after-noon beers in the sun, (NEW!) weekly events at the hostel and lot's of food and laughs.
• Essa (oldest friend of life) is visiting with new BF in August, from MTL (woooo!). 
• Pavel (my best bud, my rock, my go-to guy) whom I haven't seen in what we calculated to be 1.5 years (How can this be?!) is coming down in August. Camping and fires.
• My little bro is moving out! We're going to spend a few days in Qc. city setting him up and hanging out.
• My aunt is renovating a house in Port Felix, N.S. to turn into a hostel (amazing) and we're making plans so that I can go help/kayak/breath. 
• And of course keep hanging out with amazing staff and travelers, cyclists, hitchhikers to come, at the hostel.

*Picture taken by Daniel Poth (Our beloved gardener at the hostel) on a day trip with one of our guests. 

Bike!

Christine is gone. So sad. Actually, the strangest thing happened. We said goodbye on platform 14b yesterday, she went on her way, direction Paris. I read for a half hour waiting for my train. Got on. Sat in a little corner and started writting. About an hour into it, I turn around to catch her walking straight pass me! I guess we weren't ment to stray just yet.

Now she's really gone. I met my CS host, Peter, at the train station in Brugge at 2pm (late again). He is really fantastic. I had no reason to be worried about my first solo CS experience. He went off to work and left me with his bike and his house keys. I biked to the nearest beer store, found a bench near one of the canals and spread out my map. I miss cycling so much, I had tears, but that might also be the effects of biking with the wind whipping your face.

I found a cute coffee shop and mingled with the American who own's it, while I sipped a caramel macchiato. I taught an elderly man, reading the paper on the couch next to me, all about the concept of couchsurfing and he thought it was a brilliant idea. Then finaly I contacted Alex, the 19 year old who so enthousiastically answered my Brugge request after I had allready replied to Peter. So Alex took me to cave-like basement local bars, gave me the 101 on Belgan beer and showed me around a bit. What a cool kid. I really had a great time.

After getting lost a hundred times trying to find my way in this suburb I temporarily call home, I was happy to find my inbox filled with good news. Tomorow (bright and early), I go on my way back to Italie to discover Milan for a few days. I'm meeting up with an old couchsurfer, who's become a good friend, whom I met when he visited last September. This German's been travelling through North and South America for the last year now and I can't wait to hear all of his stories.

Pictures to come guys. I can't add them to just any computer, allready that computer time is limited, but when the time comes there will be tones to see. Big kisses!

Train wheels beating, the wind in my eyes.

Allright. Christine and I have landed in Orebro, Sweden. Weve been travelling for nearly a month now and still love each other very much. In fact, we have compiled a massive list of inside jokes, train games, and ways to pass the time while waiting for trains. Weve probably spent more time on a train in the last month then I have in a car in the last year. Speaking of, I miss my bike and running shoes and yoga. We are officially on a diet. Europe is killing us. Just kidding were not on a diet really, its an ongoing joke. We just finished homemade Swedish waffles and cream.. diet starts tomorow (again)!

Weve been staying at peoples houses through couchsurfing (magnificent, beautiful organisation) and have met truely wonderful people. We started in Italy, hopped on a ferry to Greece,  Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czech, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden. Were staying with a friend of Christines for a few days to relax and then continuing on to the Netherlands, where we part for a while. Christine will head to France and I will go check out Belgium and Luxembourg. We meet again mid April for a week of housesitting in Samoens again and then I will go home with her to Norwich, England, to see her little life in the North.

That is where I will spend my last week before I fly back home. Thats another story though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AGD78mWcss