Day 29- Men would definitely end up in a cul du sac, the sea or jumping off cliffs

The sun is shining and I try to soak in as much as I can of its rays in the balcony, breakfast is fresh beetroot, carrot and apple juice and a few slices of sourdough toast with butter washed down with green tea.

Shortly after that I do a little meditation and a yoga session, what a great start of the weekend, sunny days give me energy!

I open the UPC box and see 3 booklets of instructions, a CD, a few cables and a black box. Here’s me thinking I could just plug the box and the wireless world would be at my fingertips..Well no. I still don’t get it how I can have free minutes of international calls when I don’t even have a landline. It’s easy they said, just read the instructions. ‘Read the instructions, does anyone actually do that?’

Some people say that life should come with an instructions manual, but in fairness who would read it? I think most people would be in highly disadvantage towards the ones who would really follow the instructions. What if it was a map? Men would definitely end up in a cul du sac, the sea or jumping off cliffs before touching a map.  

I lay the contents of the box on the ground and unplug the Wimax. ‘Farewell you lazy worker, you are fired and here’s your replacement, would you be so kind to explain it the basics of how this works and get it connected?!’   

My mum calls and I explain her I am in the middle of a hideous task. ‘But you loved puzzles when you were a kid, you could stay hours putting the pieces together’  

‘Sure, I used to play with dolls too and until two years ago I hated whiskey, we grow up and our likes change. Still feel the same dislike towards brussel spouts and cooked carrots though, iac!

Hm my brain cells clutch themselves and pass the word to the surrounding ones but not even one of them is capable of making it work at this moment and I am getting a headache so I plug the Wimax back. This is a task for a Sunday afternoon, may even consider reading the manual.  

Day 28 A shining lady in a hat

At home today to receive my new UPC box. Wimax is a great name for an internet provider but over the last few months it hasn’t been performing.

Txt says: Your package should be with you between 12 and 14:30. Not surprised, 14:30 and still nothing, starving I prepare a quick lunch and as I am about to sit down to eat, he rings: ‘I’ll be at your door in a few minutes.’ I run downstairs and wait for what it seemed like forever, 10 minutes at least, until the courier arrives and I return to my cold lunch.

Later on I drop by the derma saloon to get a quick facial, she leaves me mildly red and shinning plus 100% make up free and with a bad hair day due to the hairband and probably residues of cream in my hair. I feel a bit naked and as I walk across town I beg: ‘I hope I won’t meet anyone I know’. A few meters ahead I bump into M. and his boyfriend A. who is a fashion designer. Nice, from all the people I could have met it needed to be exactly the fashion, extra groomed and always impeccable couple. I have the impression of being under scrutiny and try to hide beyond my hair layers. Now I know what a celebrity must feel when is caught off garde.

My brother, who has a great memory, asks: ‘So what’s the plan for tonight, have you already dressed up as Coco channel?’

‘No, the party is tomorrow; I am in the shops searching for a key item for my costume but I want something nice so that I can wear it again.’

He suggests: ‘What about a mask?’

Ah, he certainly says the right things at the right time.

I buy a really nice hat, put it on straight away and walk home. As i am about to open the front door I notice plenty of activity in the terrace, just beside mine. Suddenly I feel that my garden plants must be thirsty, I open the balcony door and step outside. Cameras, microphones and a film crew seem to be recording a scene pointing at the Jameson distillery tower. The protagonist is a cute tall guy, he smiles on my direction as I water the cacti, the camera man turns my way and then I remember I have no makeup on, in the movie you may see a shining lady in a hat running inside and closing the curtains.  

Day 27- One only comes knocking at the wolf’s door when he is hungry

I am at home making popcorn and roasted chestnuts to bring to the cinema when someone knocks at the door. One only comes knocking at the wolf’s door when he is hungry!   

The neighbour’s kid asks in the softest candid but fake voice: ‘would you like to sponsor me?’

‘Sponsor you to what?’ I ask. ‘Moving out? I've sponsored you last year and you said you would come back with the raffle tickets but you never did and you took my money.’

The kid blushed and left..

I didn't want to sound mean but there are kids and kids and these ones are an absolute nightmare, they respect no one, knock down my plants in the yard and their ball constantly hits the walls and windows even if they have been advised a million times by the management company that they shouldn't be playing in the communal areas. They disturb my group meditations by shouting insults and constantly scream in the corridors. Yes, they are this bad!   

That made me think about my own childhood and how things were so different, the memories of running in the fields, playing with the cats and dogs and the other neighbours kids. There was never an accident as the cars would drive slowing in a street were kids played. With hardly any vigilance we had fun for hours and when it came the time to return home our mums would call. One by one, the kids would be called back home shortly before dinner time to wash up. My neighbour had a parrot that perfectly reproduced the sound of her mum’s voice so she would always be home before us. We respected authority; anyone older than us would make an authoritarian figure to be respected. 

It no longer works like this today. The kids and adolescents I see around Dublin behave like arrogant pricks and have become quite threatening to adults when in groups.
In a way I feel sorry for them as childhood seems to have lost time, space, innocence and safety, not to mention how increasingly fat and unhealthy a large percentage of them has become. Is this real progress?




     

Day 26- what will grow from those seeds?

Half asleep, in the middle of the night I am alerted by a noise in the house, I elbow my boyfriend to say that someone is in. It is a big house with a garden where the bathroom door leads to the private grounds. We both get up and check the area to soon realise that the back door is open. It is pitch dark outside and we can’t see anyone. Walking back in, we lock the door, leave the bathroom light on and return to the room. Soon after, as we both discuss that I must have dreamt,  the shadow moves through the bathroom light and finally appears in the room, passing through the door. He looks a bit like an African witch doctor, in his 50’s, black, tall and thin. His body is covered in white mud and he is wearing brown shorts, his face is painted with black, white and red stripes. He appears to be a really strong spirit who can read into my thoughts. He is mumbling something that sounds like a black magic mantra and as he stares into my eyes he realises that I was expecting him. 

As he launches himself towards me like a ray of light, I immediately punch him and he transforms into a small wooden vase with a lid. I open it and inside there’s a transparent bag, I throw it against the walls of the room in a circular movement, almost like a ritual, always holding the bag and rotating around with it. Then I ask my boyfriend if he can bury that little pot in the garden but mark the spot as from those seeds a spell will grow and I might need to follow up on that.

I wake up on the couch feeling a little confused, ‘wow. That was a crazy hallucination’. A dream within a dream, very odd to fall into such a deep slumber after dinner without even realising that I was falling asleep.

‘Who’s that man? Who’s the boyfriend as I don’t own one’ what will grow from those seeds?’   

While I am writing this entry in the living room, I hear a noise in the corridor of something breaking.  My heart starts beating fast and it takes me a minute to react. Eventually I stand up and in the corridor lies a flower pot that fell from the shelf. I stare at it for a moment and finally lift it up and clean the soil from the carpet. 

I must have put it too close to the edge when I watered it, that is the only reasonable explanation I can find. 

Day 25- I kind of like clouds, they look like fluffy marshmallows

Whoever said that money doesn't buy you happiness obviously didn't like travelling, buying books, snorkelling in crystal clear waters or the taste of organic apples.

When people learn that I am originally from Portugal they ask surprised: ‘What are you doing in cold, raining Ireland?’  That is a good question, I reply.

Coming to Ireland was a mistake; the European Union messed up my application for a pos-graduation programme to study gipsy communities in Hungary and instead sent me to Ireland to work with emigrants. This was over 12 years ago, I've left three times to live in different countries but the spell always finds a way to bring me back (suggestions on how to break spells genuinely accepted).  

I long for warm summers, mild springs and autumns and the sense of seasons that lasts longer than a few hours and preferably not all in one day.

Can I live in a nice cottage by the beach in Portugal and still have enough money to travel and buy everything I want or the cottage comes with a chain to the sun and not enough money to buy books (the country is quite bankrupt at the moment).

Regular doses of sun and a life short of cash or enough cash but no sun, that’s the question? I am not good at choosing and I challenge whoever said you can’t have it all; I don’t want to abdicate one for the other.

After today’s promotion it appears that I've sold my soul to the grey skies for another season but if I use it wisely to save some cash, grow the business, write books and expand, in the near future that may buy me a residential area at the sun.

How willing are you to sacrifice instant gratification for a long term goal? 

Are you ready for your marshmallow test? Walter Mischel is an American psychologist best known for his ground-breaking study on delayed gratification known as “the marshmallow test.”

Walter seated preschool-age children at a table with a marshmallow and, before exiting the room, presented them with a choice: either (1) to ring a bell to call the researcher back and, upon his return, consume the single marshmallow or (2) to wait until the researcher’s voluntary return and be rewarded with two marshmallows. While some children were unable to wait a full minute (“low delayers”), others were able to wait up to 20 (“high delayers”) by employing various distraction techniques (e.g., covering their eyes with their hands, singing, and turning around in their chairs) to avoid looking at the tempting object.

Upon repeating the test, Mischel advised the children to think of the treats as something inedible (e.g., cotton balls), which dramatically improved impulse control. Follow-up studies, conducted later in life via self-report, further showed that high delayers achieved greater academic success better health and more-positive relationships. His research demonstrated not only that willpower can be learned but also that it seems to be “a protective buffer against the development of all kinds of vulnerabilities later in life,” as Mischel concluded, thereby implying that self-control is key to both academic and personal success.

  

For now I realise that I kind of like clouds, they look like fluffy marshmallows and make beautiful skies.   

Day 24 There is always one

Whenever I go, whether it is a concert, a talk, the tram trip or the airport, there’s always one disturbing element that tries and sometimes achieves to ruin it all for the ones around.

At times there is pivotal entity of power that puts an end to our misery, normally the bouncer or the driver but in numerous other circumstances there is none.

When someone shouts during a mellow gig or constantly interrupts with absurd interventions during a talk I really want to take the lead and ask them to stop, but I also realise that I am of small built and not too intimidating so I grid my teeth and hope someone bigger will persuade the disturbing element to hold their horses and behave. (without recurring to violence).   

In situations when no one intervenes, I feel the anger creeping in, and then a voice whispers ‘you are a spiritual person, you shouldn't let it upset you.’ ‘The hell with you’ I reply, ‘I am spiritual but I am not deaf, this is just pure rudeness and disrespect and it needs to stop’.  

There is a believe that if you are a pacifist and follow a spiritual path you should disregard these ‘minor’ inconveniences but I don’t bite this theory, at least not in all circumstances but don’t get me wrong I am not the Hitler of silence here.

I value self expression but also respect, there’s a difficult balance between both sometimes, as my neighbour’s 3 am self expression in terms of loud music doesn't really agree with my need to be deeply asleep at that time in the morning. 

Now the strategy is to use persuasion techniques to make it stop. I've read a book called ‘Flipnosis, the art of split-second persuasion’, by Kevin Dutton, in it Kevin provides some interesting examples of smart thinking.

Air Hostess: ‘Please fasten your seatbelt before take-off’

Muhammad Ali: ‘I am superman, superman doesn't need a seatbelt’

Air Hostess: ‘Superman doesn't need to travel by plane’

Sipping double valerian tea and eating some raw cocoa and berries bombs my heart starts beating to the music, tum tum tum tum tum tum tum oh god, I’ll give him half an hour and then will go over to ask him to lower the volume, in my Snoopy pyjama, teddy bear under my arm and sleepy eyes (that is as far as persuasive as can be in this situation).  

  

If it doesn't work, I’ll resign to wearing two pairs of earplugs but might feel like making a smoothie at 7 am (my juicer sounds like an earthquake).   

Day 23- Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you

My brother sends me provocative pictures of his first baking attempt – tangerine cake; I confess it looks yummy but thankfully it is miles away.

The winter is definitely not the best time to give up on sugar as the cold and darkness call for warm comforting foods but I won’t let it beat me now with only 7 days to go. I must say that this challenge has given me the reassurance that I can control my mind to obey me. Being quite a rule breaker and a ‘do as I please’ sort of person I can never diet (not that I want to) or stick to a specific plan (the tide is unpredictable and so is life), as I tend to live in the moment so things can change according to mine or life’s moods or needs. 

‘Your problem’...some people say is ‘You like too many things and just can’t focus on one’.  Sure I like many things; I like to experience and explore things, not being told about them.

I need to try it for myself, whether it is a new therapy, new technique, new science, and new place to go or a new natural shampoo, cream, restaurant. Life is about enjoying, experiencing and then choosing what works for you, but where does the balance lies? Being a Libra the search for balance and harmony is a constant need that applies to every area of life, personally and professionally.

Psychotherapy not only makes you analyse what’s going on around you but also what’s happening inside yourself, for better or for worse until death do us part, it is like a marriage that can’t be dissolved.  I’ve figure out that I am a bit like a kid who likes to experiment and goes from interest to interest in cycles. There aren’t enough hours in the day for everything I want to do as obviously I have to work (which I like), but would appreciate more time to ‘play’ on a daily basis.

I reject authority without fundament which makes it really difficult to be my boss, unless you are a really good one and I rarely see those. I get annoyed with politicians, selfish pricks, pretenders and liars. I don’t settle for second best when I know that more can be achieved and I started valuing communication as the key factor in every relationship the moment I figured out that people aren’t psychics (well some are,but must find really hard when people don’t get them), and can’t guess people's intentions. So speak up!   

As tomorrow is Monday and you are only going to be half productive (ah come on, confess),think about what defines you, not in a silly away like when you go to an interview, the real you?

‘Neo: I know you're out there. I can feel you now.(..)You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.’ The Matrix

Day 22- Eating the cookie that came with the coffee

A few years ago while travelling in the Netherlands I visited the museum of medicine. We found it by chance while walking around in a beautiful coastal city. What struck me the most in the fascinating museum was the information on mental health disease and the amount of cases reported in the early nineteen century. To my surprise the museum had telephones in the hallway with direct lines to mental health hospitals and you could call patients that had agreed on being contacted. I was never as disappointed for not being able to speak Dutch, as on that day.My boyfriend at the time said: ‘but that’s using people, doesn't seem fair’.

‘Using people?’ I asked. ‘Have you ever been to a mental institution or even a nursing home, some people just like to talk.’   

For over a year as ‘field work’ for my Anthropology thesis, I regularly called in by an artist’s nursing home in Portugal. The intent was to understand the neurology behind the theory of social death and the role played by memory in the last part of people’s existences. The residents lead fascinating lives as musicians, dancers, actors, opera singers and their life stories were amusing to hear but after the glory and recognition of old times, they all resumed to talking about their current life, the fact that they felt lonely without their families and that they knew they were left there to die. I asked the same questions to each of them and the last one was:’ If you could go back and do something differently what would you change?’

‘I would have stopped pleasing people and be my own self earlier in life’

‘I would have stopped wasting time with people I didn't care about and spend more time with my family’

‘I would have been more careful with my diet as to avoid the diabetes as now I can’t eat a thing ’

‘I would have exercised more and smoked less, maybe now I could still walk’

Once again you are probably thinking...enhmm i remind you that you are supposed to talk about sugar. The blog about sugar isn't only about the consumption of substances that aren't particularly beneficial to your health but also to remind us that there are plenty of things in our day to day lives that we do as absent minded as eating the cookie that came with the coffee. As tomorrow is Sunday and you might have some more time in hands I challenge you to be mindful of what you do and think, monitor each action and interaction and measure how it makes you feel. Imagine you were at the last day of your life and the same question would be asked: ‘What would you do differently, what is really important to you?’

Day 21- People only disappear when they have somewhere to go

Emails, phone calls, conversations, words, noise, traffic and even steps feel like way too much today.   

This week was 5 days too long, I wish I could hibernate for a month in a comfy warm cave in Iceland, preferably by a hot lagoon without wifi in the vicinity.

A few hours ago I received a message on facebook from a man I couldn't immediately recognise. He sent me good night kisses and then a friend request. Confused, I check his profile and find out that he is separated and has a lot of body hair and flab as he is portrayed half naked in most of his pictures. 90% of his virtual friends are women and apparently we have one mutual acquaintance but I definitely don’t know the guy. This incident reminded me of the previous blog (30daysforonlinemendating) and how society is so digitalised that people no longer meet face to face though random daily interaction in coffee shops, art centres, concerts or nightclubs because everyone is so bloody busy updating their facebook status or checking their latest email.

Internet is another sort of addiction (not sure if better or worse than sugar) that progressively threatens taking over our lives, every last bit of it to the point that I didn't even notice the guy in beard sitting beside me in Mum’s gig until the performance was over.      

As I can’t travel again this soon I’ll use my city tower to hibernate for the weekend and will not only cut sugar but also cut off the use of the electronic devices for the next 48 hours. 

To end the day in beauty I pour hot water for a bath and add the salts brought from the blue  lagoon, this will be the closest to the experience I can get. I switch off the phone and grab the book ‘Marina’, a novel by Carlos Zafon.(1)

‘I asked him how he knew I wasn't going to disappear again. After observing me for a while, he replied, ‘People only disappear when they have somewhere to go’. (1)   

Day 20- We're all to be depressed and keep our heads down

In conversation with a friend today he told me that his boss dropped by his working area and instructed him not to smile as the company was going through a complicated situation and the CEO had been called onsite.

‘We have to look suitable demure and no laughing or smiling. Apparently we're all to be depressed and keep our heads down and look busy while the big boss is here’ he said.

I thought he was being sarcastic but no, he confirmed that those were the actual words uttered by the manager. I told him he should smile or laugh really loud when the big boss was around. 

How much are you expected to change on a daily basis to do your job? If you have to play a role regularly it might be difficult to come back to the real you at the end of the day and you will possibly start to define yourself by the character you play rather than the person you truly are.

What does this have to do with sugar? Everything has to do with sugar if you are addicted to it or any other substance.  If you need constant external stimulus from substances it might mean that you want to escape from your current reality or that you are so stressed that you need to find ways to release that tension, involving habits that aren't all that beneficial to your health.  

The point here is, how much are you allowing yourself to go with the flow of events pursuing the values or silly rules that are imposed to you by your boss, your friends, your partner, your culture, your country... without even questioning if they are suitable for your personality, aptitude or the design of life you want for yourself?

 

How much are you being influenced to think that you won’t be able to stop eating sugar, you couldn't possibly stop smoking all by yourself, there’s no way you can start a diet before Christmas....  

Well, let me tell you one thing, you are the only person who can control your own mind so start taking responsibility for it and grab the reins as if you don’t, there are many people out there that will certainly try to brainwash you to be just another sheep. Set a goal and whatever it is prove yourself capable of achieving it. 

Like the proverb goes: 'A black sheep infects the whole flock'. Think for yourself as it is not illegal yet.  

Day 19- The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it

 At work as I walk in the kitchen to make a cup of tea, a full table of freshly baked goods shines in front of my eyes.  ‘OMG, what’s this all about?’

In the middle of the table there’s a box piling up with Euros, the letter board says: ‘Charity baking for the Philippines, Help yourself and donate’. 

One of my colleagues says: ‘Where there’s chocolate, there’s Ana!’ 

‘Hey, What?!’ I slap him in the arm but I guess that’s my reputation, can’t argue about that.

Someone made banoffee pie, ohhhhhhhh my favourite treat, I am drooling! Thankfully one of the ladies baked Guinness bread which is deliciously fresh, the very best I have ever tried.

Coffee breaks are seriously painful through the day as I see the treats slowly disappearing from the table at each cup I make; but once again I resist and stick to the luscious bread that someone needs to give me the recipe.

The key to overcome cravings is in getting past the need for instant gratification. As we all know but somehow tend to disregard, it is about mind over matter (assuming you are getting all the nutrients needed on a daily basis in your regular diet, as cravings can also reveal a lack of nutrients).

Let’s understand that artificial sweeteners and added sugars (not referring to the natural occurring sugars from fruits), were never part of the food pyramid, we tend to forget about that in today’s sweetened world; use it as an exceptional treat in special occasions but be aware of consuming it on a daily basis. “The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it’(1).

  

Mark Twain not only wrote two of the most famous adventures books ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1) (1876)’ and its sequel, ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ but he also left relevant notes on medicine which were published by K. Patrick Ober.  "The power which a man's imagination has over his body to heal it or make it sick is a force which none of us is born without. The first man had it; the last one will possess it."

Day 18- Is the tayto's chocolate that famous?

The ‘Conquering Animal Sound’ (a Scottish band with similarities to Bjork) are the stage openers for MUM.  At the end of their performance they ask: ‘So is it true that you guys have a chocolate made with crisps?’ The crowd shouts in consensus and in no time 2 mini tablets are hurled to the stage. Now really? This is the scene in the movie that everyone goes like: ‘Yeah right, isn’t it too much of a coincidence that in the front row someone has exactly 2 bars of tayto crisps chocolate?’

Or is the taytos chocolate that famous? The idea of crisps sandwiches still give me the creeps as my mind can’t comprehend bread with potatoes, but now that I think about it, gnocchi are quite tasty so maybe I will give these sandwiches a try but I am not sure about the chocolate.

In front of us there is a middle age couple whom we suspect are the parents of one of the band members. They come equipped with binoculars, even if the venue is quite small, and are taking couple pictures with their new iphone. I say new as they don’t know they can flip the camera around to themselves to take a picture and after a few attempts one of them is always out of the photo. I find it pretty cool that older people take on the technology and enjoy playing with all these smart gadgets.

My grandaunt who is 82 uses email and skype to communicate with her ‘adopted’ granddaughters who live abroad which I think is impressive, compared with my parents who are much younger but are not too keen on technology which means that when I go home I stay at my brother’s place as he has Wi-Fi, yes I know, but I really can’t function without it these days. I surely hope he is not reading this.  

When I went to San Fran for my birthday my grandaunt told me again ‘Ah, I won’t email you when you will be away as you won’t receive it until you are back, I will text you instead, and you will receive that won’t you?’

‘I will receive both, aunt.’ I replied. ‘I told you before that when you send an email you don’t send it to a specific computer, you send it to a server and I can access it anywhere in the world’

‘Oh, ah mm ok, I will text you anyway. You will take your phone with you right?’

*‘Behind these two hills here
I Fall asleep
And when I float in green grass of tunnel
It flows back
Down from my ceiling
Drips great noise
It drips on my head through a hole in the roof
Behind these two hills here
There's a pool
And when I'm swimming in
Through a tunnel....
I shut my eyes.
I shut my eyes’

*MUM

Day 17- The colourful package hypnotised me

Once again I dreamt with doors, this time it was in a remote village that looked like an ancient dwelling place, we were going to relocate elsewhere for the summer and I was told to go home and grab a few metal pots for cooking. I open the heavy door and as I walk in this small round house, it is pitch dark inside and there are ghostly hands trying to grab me so I run outside as fast as I can.Complaining about my lack of bravery a member of my group takes over and returns with a pan.
Unexpectedly I am transported to my old house as a kid waking up alone in the dark and panicking for not being able to find the switch. I run from my room to the corridor and all the way to the living room where my parents are, in a incredible speed as ghostly hands chase me and grab my legs. 

Then the kettle starts boiling and when it stops the alarm rings and the tea is made. I sit down on the bed, rub my eyes and pour the tea into the big mug. Monday to Friday (he has the weekend off) the butler (I call him Henry), never fails to wake me up with a fresh cuppa, unless off course I forget to refill the kettle the night before.  

Loving or hating your job, the first day at work after holidays is always a bummer. Absent minded and still in festive mode I describe the travelling adventures to the curious colleagues while they enjoy the Icelandic chocolate and the Scottish fudge.
The goodies lay in front of my desk for the entire day, slowly disappearing as passing hands help themselves. I was tempted by them once, the colourful package hypnotised me as I stared through the window and my arm was moving towards it in slow pace until my mind took over and cut the nonsense. The angel won again!    

Day 16- Wow man, that's a lot of chocolate

Half way through the concert my heart starts beating fast and I begin to sweat and breathing heavily. Situated in the standing arena in front of the stage and surrounded by people I try to keep the composer but the instinct tells me to get out of there. I walk fast through groups of people without being able to focus on their faces, suddenly it is all white and sparkling around me,(no these are not light effects). I am about to faint and still haven’t reached the back of the crowd so I stop and knell down for a few seconds to catch my breath. Managing to get some extra strength I stand up again and a minute later finally reach inhabited soil and sit down on the ground. ‘Wow, what the h*** was that about? This never happened before.’

Shortly after R texted and we meet at the back, his knees are sore from standing so for the remainder of the act we stay at the back intercalating seating and standing for our favourite songs. It was a fantastic concert!

Walking around town in the afternoon I pop by Seduced (the new vegan and raw restaurant), in Temple bar. The menu was limited for a Sunday but I must say that the mushroom soup with cashews and the mega apple and ginger juice was delicious. The day passes and no cravings, until I hit the supermarket. ‘wow man, that's a lot of chocolate, 30 Butlers for 8 euros...ahhhh! ’ Boxes of many varieties of chocolates and candy make the first row of the supermarket. I run to the side row and go all around it to avoid seeing it again. 

S called wondering if he could book a massage this evening. I don’t normally work on Sunday’s and massage is not my main activity but for regular clients if I am available I don’t mind. I also give skype therapy sessions which some people find very helpful as they don’t have to travel, although I will never hypnotise anyone over the phone. 

Having known S for a good while, I ask him how is his career as an actor and how are things with his girlfriend. He answers 'Oh we broke up'. 

'Sorry to hear, but you know I think last two times you booked a massage with me you guys had broken up, seems like there's a pattern here. I mean, it is good for my business but not good for your heart!' He laughs and says :' Yeah maybe I need comfort after the breakup, but this time is for good!'  

'Mm i wonder, you said the same last time', I joke as I stamp his loyalty card. '4 more to go and then you get a free session'.

   

Day 15 The Sigur Ros vibes playing in the living room

I wake up hyper looking forward to experience Sigur Ros in concert tonight. Having known their amazing work for years, it makes it really special to watch them perform after visiting their country as I now understand their music better. Coincidently, as a birthday present K bought us tickets for MUM (another Icelandic band) on Tuesday, without even knowing that I like them and have all their albums. Ah, love synchronicity!

Hm.. no buffet breakfast in here, I notice that I have very little in the fridge and feel tempted by the chocolate goodies that were brought from the trip but quickly roam in the cupboard and prepare a vegan protein shake with coconut milk accompanied by crackers with chickpeas pate. Not bad for an express breakfast without leaving the house, the trick is to always have healthy options around, I wonder if I’ll have the same luck for lunch, but dinner is covered as I will go to my ‘local’ vegetarian restaurant – Cornucopia with J (a vegan pal) before the concert.

Been proven by quantum physics that our bodies are made of particles, every little one of them is charged with a significant vibration depending of its functionality. The cells react to the vibration of the food we ingest, the air we breathe, the energy in the atmosphere, emotions, feelings and what we call social consciousness. As a Reiki healer and a very sensitive person to vibrations I can sense the energy of a specific country or city, in fairness I think we all can to a certain extent but don’t always pay attention to it. We can sense when we walk into a bar and the energy is dense and heavy and everyone looks angry and we immediately close the door and search for another one.

Our cells have a memory and they all record the memory of the things we interact with. If you visualize it, we are like a walking magnet, absorbing all sorts of messages and vibrations we pick up here and there. In terms of trauma or negative events, this memory can be stored in the deepest centre of our core and affect the physical, mental and emotional bodies but in regards of actual substances ingested or applied to the body, such as creams and oils and the food and water we consume on a daily basis, the residues not absorbed such as additives, pesticides, artificial colourants and sweeteners , GMO’s stay in the cells and organs and are the origin of most of the diseases these days.

This post was intended to be about music as vibrational energy but somehow derailed. Today pay attention to how you feel after a song, after eating a meal, after talking to someone as that is an indication how your inner particles are reacting to that external influence coming from the senses, in how you interact with the world.   

I am feeling fantastic today and just received a visit from a seagull who was poking at the window, maybe it was attracted by the Sigur Ros vibes playing in the living room as the animals also feel attracted to vibrations.

Day 14 Another day without sugar

Wow, it it is really warm, I sweat in my heavy coat and furry boots, Edinburgh feels tropical after the Icelandic cold and wind. 

With the excuse of having to spend my last pounds I hit the bookstore and acquire 2 books as the second is half price. Gotta love marketing but then again, one can never have enough literature!

'The signature of all things' by Elizabeth Gilbert is a great title of the new book from the author of ' Eat, pray and love'. If you found the movie adaptation cheesy, please read the book as I promise it is much better and truly aligned to some of our female struggles these days. 

The second is called 'The rules to break', by Richard Templar. Like If i don't break enough rules on a regular basis and need to be reminded of new ones. Then you may wonder, ' if you don't like rules, why are you imposing the sugar abstinence to yourself?' It has nothing to do with rules, it has to do with will power, that is all in the mind and I like to believe that I can rule my own mind to obey me so I go through another day without sugar.

The offers for brunch at the airport do not appeal my eyes , I was convinced that I was going to find coconut yogurt at the airport coffee shop but that must have been in San Francisco airport, I am getting all messed up with my travels.

Thankfully I travelled to Scotland before my final destination as a direct flight to Irelandnd would have been a bit of a shock in terms of pace. As I set foot in Dublin after a delayed Ryanair flight I go straight to Kokoro, a sushi place on Liffey street. Realising that I don't have enough hands to grab a take away with my carry on bag and trolley I pick a table facing the window and sit down for a nice meal. 

As i am wondering about what sort of spell is keeping me in In Dublin after our love for each other had died and old song starts playing:

' And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky' (.....)

Did I say that I loathe you?

Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?'

Day 13 It sounds like the perfect place to live

I confess that on a day like this I really crave chocolate in any of its forms. Comfort food or a fire place would have been much appreciated after getting soaked (twice) on the way to the museums. Reykjavik is like a tiny village easily crossed by foot but not on a rainy, windy and cold day. P curses all the way to the National museum as her umbrella handle keeps on falling, I moan in silence grinding my teeth to the wind.

The coffee shops have character and the waiters are pretty chilled. Things work well and efficiently, the bus drivers that come to collect us at the hotel lobby to bring us to the tours are polite, friendly and extremely punctual. There is an easiness of being in this place, maybe because there aren't as many tourists as in other countries (which avoids queues or crowds), people actually care for you and give you time and space to interact. 

I haven't seen any fancy shops, ostentation of richnesses or any misconduct or rude behaviour, the locals are extremely civilised and project a really cool aura to their surroundings. Their aesthetic sense is impressive, the city is clean and very organised. The tap water is delicious and the skin and hair are incredibly soft after the shower. The food, apart from the lack of choice in cuisines, is clean and generally healthy. Described like this, It sounds like a perfect place to live, if it wasn't for the weather and the quietness which would be lovely to experience for two weeks to a month but then I would start to miss the city buzz. ('regular' cities, as the concept of city doesn't apply to Reykjavik).

I buy some local chocolate for the Irish palls and pack the tablets at the bottom of the bag; 'out of sight, out of mind', as the saying goes.

I will come back to Iceland, as I couldn't scratch the Northern lights experience out of my bucket list. If there are any Icelandic natives reading the blog get in touch as I would love to hear more about your fascinating county and culture.

Leaving Iceland I don't have any problem passing security with my blue contact lenses but arriving to Edinburgh the customs officer had to do a few checks and then maybe because it was really late in the night and he wanted to go home he let me go.

Day 12 The lights were off but the fun was on

We travelled away from town after dinner and drove around for over 3 hours but the northern lights were off, recession I would say, someone forgot to replace the bulbs. Damn you sun for not giving us your flare as apparently that was the missing condition for the aurora boreal to be visible.

Following yesterday's glorious sunny day I find it difficult to accept this morning's wet, cold, snowy and greyish morning. My winter hibernation mode kicks in and suddenly the soak in the blue lagoon doesn't sound that appealing.

As we meet K & G in the breakfast room we are confronted with the sight of a lady in her pyjamas, slippers and bathrobe walking around in the buffet area. First I thought it was a ghost but the others pointed that they could see her as well. We speculate about her nationality, it seems that the pyjama trend is expanding from it's Irish origin. (see documentary pyjama girls).

Arriving at the blue lagoon we are mind blown by the beauty of the place. At the till we figure that we are going to spend so time here and decide to upgrade our standard ticket to the luxury experience. We are given unlimited time in the area, bathrobes, towels, flip-flops, exfoliating mask, choice of drink and a 800kr discount on natural cosmetics. Oh they know how to catch women's purses!

Wow! This is fantastic, the scenario is incredible, the water is warm and cosy and the snow is falling. We get the green is cool smoothie and relax in our mud masks, along with other alien looking creatures. Couples wrapped around each other, kissing and swimming in pairs, us laughing our heads off with the silly faces and splashes. Coming out of 37/40 degrees water to -4 is quite a trick, which I almost master by the end of the experience, calmly walking in a bikini while stepping on snow in bare feet.

I try it all, opening the doors around the lagoon area, leading to saunas, Turkish baths and cave steam rooms until our skin is so wrinkled that we are forced to leave the water.

Realising that we didn't bring any shampoo, creams or make up, it makes us go the raw way and look a bit like cave women for the day, but who cares?

We have a snack and champagne and return to the lagoon 2 hours after for a night swim experience, the wind is blowing strong, creating waves, and the mini geysers in the water release their hot vapour in fast speed, haven't experienced anything like it! Finally, 6 hours after arrival we decide to head back to town, what a fantastic day! No sugar was consumed, what's that, anyway? I am only reminded of it once I order a cup of tea and P makes it disappear so fast that I didn't even notice it was once on my plate.

Day 11 Donkey poo chocolate balls and dry fish

Breakfast in Reykjavik is surprisingly pleasant, they even have soya milk for the morning coffee which makes the lactose intolerant in me very happy. 

At 9 am the sun isn't up yet but we are already set for our car trip to the Southern waterfalls. As the hotel doors open to let us through a blast of cold air enwraps my entire body into a frosty cloud and I run back inside. Argh, ouch, yaks, it's bloody freezing, I wasn't made for this. I walk around for a few minutes but my brain finally realises that eventually I'll have to leave and I venture out again to buy water and a snack for the trip. Strangely enough, in a supermarket with very limited food choices, I bump into peanut butter cups...oh evil. Just beside it, a package of  donkey poo chocolate balls and  dry fish. Jzz weird stuff! 

Used to the Irish mannerisms i address people by: 'Hi, how are you.' They appear surprised and answer 'very well thank you, and you? Absent minded I sometimes forget to reply, which confuses them even more.

Just a little appendix as if you aren't Irish you might not know that 'hey how are you' addressed to a stranger, means exactly the same as 'good morning' and it doesn't imply an answer.Icelandic are friendly people, they don't over smile but are polite and professional. I come out with coconut water (my favourite drink on earth) and a postcard.

Bloody Icelandic give mini chocolates with every cup of tea or coffee, and I have been having a few to keep warm. G and P slag me and end up eating my chocolates, K just feels sorry for me. G says: 'you have picked a really bad timing for this detox!' 'There's never a good time to give up sugar!' I say Brrr and brrr, I was never this cold in my entire life, P photographs the world and all the passing clouds but I think twice before removing my gloves for a picture opportunity. ' Is what i am seeing really worth it to freeze my fingers for?' The answer is yes, the landscape is mind blowing but for a tree hugger like me, who loves ancient trees and forests, the nakedness of the land disturbs me a bit. There's no vegetationWe see waterfalls, rainbows, sheep, volcanos, tiny donkeys, icy mountains and the sea, but very few people. Where is everyone? Icelandic little villages look like abandoned towns, there is no one on the streets and there's very little movement. Once you leave Reykjavik, there are very few restaurants and snack bars, not particularly touristy oriented in the country side. I get stuck in a public bathroom in the waterfalls park. Just as I was about to panic due to the confined enclosed space and the lack of humanity around here, the lock finally gives in. Mhm,' what's with me and doors these days?'

Day 10- Maybe it was the hot toddy talking

Not understanding exactly what is happening I go to the reception hoping to find someone who can help me with the door. I explain the problem and the friendly guy says he will have a look. As he climbs the stairs after me, I send a mental note to the door: ' you better not open now or you will make me sound like a fool'.

I rotate the key in the lock and push the handle but there is no movement forward. He receptionist tries it as well and looks at me flabbergasted. ' weird, it seems like some heavy weight is pushing it from the other side. There is only one way to open it, we will have to break the lock.'

'Not the kind of activity I normally do at midnight but let's do it, I always wanted to try.'

'shoulder or foot?' he asks

'foot' I answer. 'Don't want to damage my shoulder'

Ok, in 3' ..1, 2, 3, go!

We kick the door and it blasts open. I step back and let him peep through.

'No one here' he says.

I follow him inside and check all the corners but no signs of life or movement apart from ourselves. 

He picks up the lock from the ground and says,' weird, this still has the internal lock activated, it shouldn't be possible to close from inside. I will ask the cleaning lady if she sensed any problem with the door, it must have slammed close with the lock activated. I will fix this now, will come back in a few minutes if that is ok'

'Sure, thank you'

As I wait for him to return I make a cup if tea and can see the complementary cookies winking at me, or maybe it was the hot Toddy talking!

Ghost or no ghost I sleep wonderfully and miss breakfast so drop by the Henderson's in Hanover street for some veggie breakfast. Coconut yogurt with rye bread and freshly squezzed berries juice does the deal. 

Before heading to the airport I buy some vegan and Gm free protein bars in case the Icelandic breakfast doesn't live up to my dairy free, vegetarian and sugar free diet. Gosh, I am starting to sound a lot like Gwen Patrol.