...so it begins...

21 hours and spinal cord injury later...I'm safe in London. I really would have loved to have started my first blog in 3 weeks using the word epic. It would of went something like..."wow, what an epic 21 hour journey...Sydney to London". Sounds good right? but unfortunately, the truth of it is, that it all went pretty smoothly in terms of logistics and people transportation by the masses. 

Though because I like to have a good bitch and moan and lets face it there are so many little quirks when traveling that grate us.

5 things that come to my mind on (super) long haul journeys is;

1. DVT. Will I get 'deep vein thrombosis' if I don't get up and stretch and do 10 reps x 90 sets of calf raises and ankle mobility? So I always book an isle seat so that I can stand up at least 9 times per hour to get up out of my seat and do my DVT prevention exercises.

2. Food. Now surely in this day and age in which we can check in on line, choose our seats etc. we should be able to choose our food and special requirements online if one fails to be so organised in advance. Here are the reason(s) one must always organise special case meals...you meal comes first! That's pretty much it really. It doesn't taste better than "normal" food, though come to think of it, in the past when I have ordered vegetarian, I find that I have less cabin pressure.

3. Cabin Pressure. The reason I also recommend special meals is that, it seems that by eating the same meal as the vast majority, one can develop allot of gas in their intestines. Yes, intestinal pressure. But the interesting chemistry about this is that when at altitude this gas does not have an odour when being released from the sphincter.

4. Children. (a.k.a. noise making creatures) Though there is nothing I can do about this, being on a flight and seeing folk with their off spring, babies (crying) toddlers (fidgeting, playing and constantly walking up and down the isle) it is always a nice little reminder to know why I am not ready for them, if at all. In other words...shut them up!!

5. Sit upright. I have finally learnt after many years of travel in 'cattle class' is that the only way to prevent spine and neck injury is to sit up right. I used to sit, spread, lean, wedge, manouvre, balance, contort and try all sorts of positions to now only realise at the ripe age of 32 that a seat is to be sat on.

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Organic Fruit Loops

Following your heart and pursuing your dreams is the cliché that we all aspire to. The difference is that if you are a ‘passionate’, a person that is guided by what feels good at the time or goes with the flow versus conforming to what is considered conventional. I’m not saying that you cant have a 9-5 gig and therefore are not passionate about it or some other hobby, this is very far from the truth. But what is conventional these days anyways?

I speak for me (of course) when I say this. But there is no way in hell I could lead a conventional lifestyle of routine and mundanity (if there is such a word?, and if there isn't, then now there is! trademark it!). I need allot of time to my self to rejuvenate, allow my head to breathe and offer energy to those I work with and people that are important to me, the best of me. A little ridiculous huh!

What I have learnt about my self through the years and recently accepted is that I am a fruit loop. A healthy one made of home grown organic vegetables with no artificial colours or flavours. I need constant stimulation, variety, fresh minds, new connections, long standing connections and friendships, rejuvenation, space to be creative, nature, nature, nature and silence.

ps. if you remember the fruit loops ad on Australian TV in the 80's and 90's, the Toucan Sam followed his nose and found fruit loops.

So when I woke up this morning and realised I had only 17 days to go, I was a little spooked about my journey that I am about to embark upon. Not because I am afraid of a squillion Indians wanting to share the same cubic inch as me, or that Everest is too high, but because the (small) part of me that wants to return sooner to get things up and running in terms of my business is rapidly getting more minute by the day. The larger part of me, the bird, the nomad, the cameleon that thrives on change and adaptation is prepared to set off for quite some time. Perhaps 4-6 months. I know I just have to wait and see, but in my mind I kind of want to frame it so that I can mentally prepare. The little voices are saying "See where things go and see where things end up", another voice says "things at home will always be there" another says "keep the connections you have" its kinda noisy in there, so I just breathe and remember that as long as I am being true to me at each point in my mind along the way, then that's all there is.

...the straw that broke the camels back...

Charles Dickens said "As the last straw breaks the laden camel's back", meaning that there is a limit to everyone's endurance, or everyone has his breaking point.

If I could say to you what I was really thinking, it would go something like…

Get your shit together. Enough is enough. How much longer are you going to feel sorry for yourself before you let go of what was and acknowledge what is. I will not repeat myself over and over and keep telling you what I think you are, because if you don’t already know your self then no one can tell you. I am a person that cares for you and wants to see you happy, but I can’t make you happy.

Seeing you like this is a little scary for me as I am afraid that I don’t know how to deal with you. I am honest when I say, that I feel that I am not equipped. Energetically this is very draining because I am in a totally different space. I am excited, full of beans ready to set off and pursue my dreams which has taken me some time to get round to. 

We all get stuck in a moment and feel that we can’t get out. But part of human nature is our ability to recognise these struggles at different points in time and develop the courage to move towards happiness.

Another thing I have learnt, which maybe stating the obvious is that you cannot seek happiness externally. By this I mean, caring what people think. Acting and behaving in such away in order to achieve an expected out come will almost always return a negative out come. To be internally and therefore eternally happy we must be satisfied with what and who we are, accepting what is rather than expecting what may be. So by reinforcing the negative, you are projecting to the universe that you are not worthy of happiness, therefore your return on investment is negative. If you want a good investment, you have to invest authentic love and energy into ‘you’ and until you do so you will always be gambling in a bear market; unstable, uncertain, minimal returns!