October 24, 2022- To be close or not to be close?

Dear October,

don’t ask where I have been these last times, and I won’t ask you either… actually, let’s pretend we run into each other in our morning walk in the park, in the same way as I run into Mr. S, my former landlord. And his dog. We were happy, with some small feeling of guilt on my side, for not having inquired about the existence of any bill. But apparently, there wasn’t any. So much the better.

So let’s continue our relationship where we left it: in London.

Here I am, dear October, with many changes taking place both in the country, in the world, and in my life. A New head of state, changes everywhere. Nice changes happening in my life.

But this is not the moment to start my confidence.

I would like to ask your opinion: how do you keep the right kind of distance from people at work or with your neighbours so that you have a smooth relationship?

The kind of place where I live is like a hotel: a lot of different people and habits, and somehow some grudges came up in my discussion with a new friend. It seemed that by acknowledging these grudges the place seemed full of them. It is like when you agree on some negatives they seem to become more important.

And then I kind of regret starting the conversation. By acknowledging something we made it more tangible.

How to get out of a gossiping state of mind and dissipate anything negative I might have said or accepted to hear about?

By making a list of positive characteristics of the people I have criticised- including myself.

So here we are:

K is picking a fight easily but she is also emotional and good and goes the extra mile for those who are her friends

L might be a cold fish and flirt with all women but is also someone with good conversation and culture

Or something of the kind

How do you get along with the other months, October?

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Get back in the saddle after Covid19 slowing down: May 31, 2022

Dear May,

I haven’t been on horse-riding- I like horses, and this is something I was dreaming of as a child- maybe it is on my bucket list in a way.

But the idea is, having more energy and getting ahead in the direction of my dreams- things happen and we also happen to others; most of all, we might lose faith in ourselves and in the future. But things change constantly, and what is negative can become a window of opportunity.

Let’s give it a try and let’s keep walking and trying independently of getting this or that outcome.

I commit to waking up at 6 am every day and going to bed a bit earlier, to begin with; and to work for one hour and a half focused, with a short break in between.

What do you think?

I am working from home and took a short break with some lentils and tea; it seems like a great idea to have one and a half-hour focused work, let’s see how it goes.

May 9th, 2022: an almost adopted kitten

Dear May,

instead of working, as my guilty conscious whispered to me, I spend much of my day trying to adopt a kitten. Without much success. My intentions were honorable, though.

I met this five-month-old cat in a local café, trying to get the attention of the customers. She looked hungry, and she reminded me of a beloved garden cat who got kidnapped by a neighbor, known as “the German lady”.

In any case, my heart melted, and after some inquiries, the cat seemed to be all by herself, hungry and in a so and so shape.

In our garden, there is a sleeping spot, peace, food, and drinks twice a day; that’s my best offer for now. So I took some food, put the kitten in the box, and transported her to our garden. There, she enjoyed a three stars Michelin equivalent lunch and dinner for cats. She looked grateful and happy, and she took place by the front door.

However, when I went to look for her this morning, she was gone.

I was a bit worried. Would she be ok?

After all, it’s her decision. And I can’t take her inside, with the other cat who is a bit aggressive.

Can you adopt someone without their consent? In the case of my previous garden cat, he was the one who decided to adopt our garden.

Can we adopt someone if we are not adopted back?

May 2nd, 2022: imagination and reality for young novelists

Welcome May!

I have been reading Umberto Eco’s: “Confessions of a young novelist”, exploring the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction. How the author builds the imaginary world and the connexions with different forms of reality, the different readings from different readers. Some of these readers, experts in the medieval worlds he mentions might look for facts and connexions in his writings he wasn’t aware of.

Despite having read “the name of the rose” and loved it absolutely, and then ‘Foucault”s pendulum”, I admit that Umberto has not stirred my interest in the same way here. Yes, I am a young novelist and I love his work and personality overall. But right now, it seems that medieval Europe is not for some reason my biggest passion.

Still, the book is only half-read, so I still have hopes, or it could be that recovering from covid is incompatible with Eco. We’ll see!

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674058699

April 27, 2022- Building up energy and Bullet journaling

Hello April,

yes, it is kind of better as I am COVID negative the last few days, but there is still a feeling of tiredness, and difficulty concentrating- this could also be the effect of spring or the hours I have been trying to decide what to watch on Netflix…

Today I started with a reorganisation of my agenda- all these things I haven’t been doing will be tamed and I will prevail!

Then I started reading something that will eventually lead to writing a piece- an article actually. And I think that I got an interesting idea as to how to structure the flow of my ideas…

Then, some family friends came by to visit my parents and I chassed the cat who was trying to eat the flowers. And no energy for anything else at 6.30 pm.

I should be thankful, and I am thankful indeed because this is already a big step forward.

And to congratulate me for my effort, I am going to offer some chocolate- there is an Easter chocolate egg which needs to be eaten right away.

7 Countries That Make The Best Chocolate

April 26, 2022: 8-year Blog-a-versary!

Do you believe it April? 8 years of writing and blogging, for something that started as a three-month journaling, April to June of 2014! I was struggling with a wannabee boss at a part-time job, and there wasn’t one thing in my life that seemed to have some stability.

If change is the most stable thing, then changes I got throughout these years: change of country and working language, of scenery, of social circle, of pretty much everything!

Apart from the pandemic, some personal tribulations and being a carer for a sick parent,

And here I am today, recovering from Covid19, after having avoided it for two years and with three vaccine doses, to slowly start another blog year and to look forward to further personal development.

I have settled in London, renting a room in a kind of communal living, like a student’s residence, and most importantly, I got myself a permanent job in the midst of the pandemic!

Looking forward to the new blog year and to the new directions this blog will take!

Happy Anniversary “April4june6.wordpress.com”!

November 29, 2021: Friends, new and old

Hello November,

A lot of new things happen in my life since September when I moved back to London to work on-site. I have arrived stressed and tired after continuous lockdowns, to realize that most people suffered in their own way, even the luckiest among them who were physically ok.

I spent some time worrying that I don’t know that many people in London, and then I realised I haven’t been in touch with some of my dearest old friends who are not living nearby. Do I still have their contact details? For some, it will take work because I haven’t uploaded all of my old contacts in the cloud, and they might be in parts of the world where they don’t use the same social media.

Still, I need to make the effort to see: where are friends from the student’s residence of my first years far from home?

Time to find out!

New friends are great, but old friends are like rocks you build on your foundation of happiness!

October 17, 2021: Designing my Perfect Life

Hello October,

I feel a bit more relaxed after a month in London, and I start wishing for more: so here I am, planning what I would love to see materialising in my life: everyday life, friends, home, career, anything. I would like a magic wand to attend to it, but sometimes, taking a step at a time is also great. I came accros my goals set in 2017 in an old notebook, and was happily surprised to see I have reached them, almost all!

In the meanwhile, there were times that looked disastrous, as if not only I was not reaching any goal, but I was also losing what I already had! Somehow, I kept my faith, in the middle of these adventures, and I can now talk from a much better place.

So, how do I create magic again? Apparently Good Things come to those who Create, so I will draw the best possible picture and I will see myself into it. I see myself aligned with my work environment, friends I can trust and who can be trusted and a mission that inspires me! A loving family created, pets, travelling to unite with like-minded people on Earth, Beauty and my personal Utopia materialised!

Can we be happy in the middle of unhappiness? Yes, because LIFE has always a way to get ahead, and by involving as many others as possible to this happy bubble of ours! May Happy Bubbles become many and include the whole world!

September 28th, 2021- Create and let your creation be!

Hello September,

isn’t it difficult to let something go, once we have created it? Parents should feel that with their children, who might end up being very different people, but the same goes with other creations. Once it’s out there, others may interpret it in ways we couldn’t imagine initially. Apparently, it happens also with technology. Text messages were a byproduct and they ended up becoming a main communication tool …

All this to say, yes, I understand it is difficult, especially when you have struggled and worked consistently in one direction, to let this creation go and remain empty-handed. It makes us vulnerable, somehow. But we are not empty-handed!

Is this something people who have been plagiarised think?

Hmm, ok, it might be worth defending a creation, but the creative power is still with the person who has created.

And all she or he have become in the process.

Something to keep in mind when we become too possessive with our work

https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1246&langId=en

September 8th, 2021: Respecting our rhythm

Hello September,

Yes, I am in London again where everything is fast, and people are slowly but steadily going towards their pre-pandemic life styles; with precaution, vaccination and masks in the underground.

I still feel stressed, after living with my parents in our village at the South of France. It sounds idyllic, but with the lockdown and my mum’s health issues, it was difficult to keep the balance.

So, here I am, and I feel like a real holiday is in order: the kind of thing where you allow yourself to just BE, living fully in the PRESENT and admiring the birds, the food, the beach, each other, etc…

Without any form of guilt:

Rest and healing is not a luxury it is a necessity!!!

Holiday, here I come!!!