Ten Things That Make Me Feel Happy

I'm really annoying right now.  Full on whiny, why-me, annoying because of this god-awful cold which is a nasty one.  One week on and it doesn't feel like it's getting any better.  Apart from the snot and not being able to breathe through my nose, or hear very well or sleep very well or think very well, not to mention the many forests we've used up by way of tissues, the worst thing about this blasted lurgy is not being able to smell or taste my food.  If you know me, you'll know how infuritating that is.  So I thought it would be a good time to post this.

Many moons ago, Cheeky Mummy tagged me with this meme.  I didn't notice the tag till a few weeks later and I've been meaning to do it and post it up since June.  Here it finally is.  It's nice to see that nothing on the list has really changed.

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Ten things that make me feel happy


1. People – specific people: Jake, Paul, my close friends, family, people who love me and care about me, meeting new people – potential new friends, the prospect of the people I’ll meet in my lifetime. I could never be a hermit. I might not be very good at talking or opening up to people, but without them, I’d be even more of a basket case than I already am.

2. Books – owning them, looking at them, coveting them and reading them. I’ve been a bookworm ever since I was 6 or 7. My Dad introduced me to Richard Scarry and my Mum introduced me to Pearl S Buck. I read my first novel, The Good Earth, at the age of 8. I’ve been hooked on books ever since. I try not to judge people, but I do feel sorry for people who don’t read. I would not be who I am today if I didn’t read. And the thought of a life without books makes me shudder.

I’m currently addicted to Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels. I know, I know. Feel free to mock me and throw things. But if you do throw things, can they please be nice, non-bruising treats.

3. Writing - I guess this makes sense what with all the book reading. I started writing stories as a child and was encouraged to keep a diary by my Mum when I was 10. I’ve never really stopped and now writing is as necessary to me as breathing. It doesn’t matter to me anymore that I may never get anything published. To me, the point of writing is to write, not to become famous.

4. Travelling - Probably a throw over from my nomadic childhood, but I love love love seeing new places, new sights, new colours, new smells, being immersed in the dream of another life. I love being reminded that the world is a much bigger place than the one I am in, full of possibilities to explore and discover. One day, I’d love to be able to do this with Jake:
http://travelswithanineyearold.com/

5. Learning – I finished school and University a while ago, but I’ve never stopped doing courses or trying to teach myself one thing or another. Since finishing my Masters degree, I’ve done courses in: counselling, tai chi, massage, aromatherapy, reiki, shiatsu, photography, watercolour painting, drawing, various writing courses, yoga. I taught myself to knit, bake vegan goodies, cook, and I want to learn screen printing, solar etching, embroidery, how to use a sewing machine and bookmaking. I’m sure there will be more things I’ll want to learn in the future. If I ever lose my desire to learn then it probably means I’m dead.

6. Food – food glorious food. There are fewer things better than good food. Simple, fresh, tasty. Bacon sarnies, crispy fried eggs with rice, steak and chips, black bean tostadas, cannellini beans (all beans and pulses really), miso soup, sushi, tempura, lobster with butter sauce, egg fried rice, fried chicken, crisps, chocolate croissants, TEA, fresh lemonade, Moroccan mint tea, calamari, guacamole, pancakes, lemon cupcakes, roast potatoes, souvla, souvlakia, cheese pastries, all pastries, larp, peking duck, steamed eggs, minced pork omelettes, bun xa with tofu, brinjal bhaji, crispy aubergine, stir fried marinated soy garlic aubergines, all things aubergine, pesto, linguine with pea and mint pesto, a full English, toast with marmite, cashew pilaf, dal, masala dosa, fish masala, tom ka, ho fun, and all the wonderful dishes I can’t recall now and have yet to discover.

7. Projects – my regular blog readers will know how much I love projects. 100 days to make me a better person, 100 word diary, 250 words a day, 100 day to do list. And those are just my most recent ones. I love having a project to be getting on with and coming across a new project or an idea for one always fills me with hopeful glee. Being challenged, having a crack at something new, being creative – it helps keep me going and growing. I don’t do well when I feel static.

8. Music – all kinds. Currently rediscovering Lhasa's The Living Road

9. Being inspired, especially by other people’s talent and creativity. It lights a spark in me and gives me that sense of expansiveness, the feeling that the world and life is full of possibilities to be discovered.

10. Yoga – it opens my mind, stills me, centers me, calms me, roots me, helps me to be present, awake, restores me, challenges me, strengthens me, teaches me. And doing it feels good too.

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I was supposed to tag a bunch of people to carry on the meme too, but I'll leave it up to you.  If you fancy doing it, please do.

Meme

It's a rainy Friday evening and I just spotted this meme on na's blog, so decided to play along...

10 years ago I was 26 years old, renting an overpriced room about as big as a walk in cupboard that didn't even have it's own toilet. Everything was in one room, my single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a shower, a two-ring electric cooker and a fridge. It was off the Portobello Road in Notting Hill. The walls were so thin I could hear everything my next door neighbours did and said. I hardly cooked because the smell of it would linger for days. So I visited the local chip shop far too often. I didn't think it was cool at all, it was dingy and depressing and my first taste of living alone in London. I despaired of ever finding anywhere affordable and decent to live by myself in London and definitely never imagined that in 10 years time I'd be expecting a baby. 10 years ago I probably didn't even want children.

5 things on my to do list

- Finish packing!

- Send out change of address cards to people not on email

- Buy some newborn baby clothes, nappies and a Moses basket before we move, just in case

- See the Hammershoi exhibition with Mad

- Go to the Psycho Buildings exhibition at the Hayward

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire

- Give millions of it away to good causes, I hate the idea of being that rich. Anyone that rich has probably had to exploit a lot of people to get that way.

- Use some of the money towards building a green home and setting up some sort of sustainable living / permaculture scheme to grow organic food for local communities

- Set up a fund so that such schemes could be set up all over the UK

- Put money away for my baby's future

Three bad habits

- Irritable when I am tired

- Very judgemental of noisy people

- Buying too many books that then go unread

5 places I've lived in the past

- Jerusalem, Israel

- Damascus, Syria

- Long Island, New York, USA

- Rawalpindi, Pakistan

- Nicosia, Cyprus

5 jobs I've had

- bit part in a Cypriot chocolate commercial

- babysitting

- envelope stuffer

- substitute ESOL teacher in a family hostel

- Administrator

Have a great weekend. I probably won't be posting anymore till after we've moved house.

P.S. The photo above was taken last summer, during a walk through Kensington Gardens where I found some fallen flowers, brought them home and kept them. I made several drawings of them once they had dried and I still have those dried flowers today!

Below are some of the drawings I made from the flowers...