I MET MY YOUNGER SELF FOR COFFEE

COFFEE WITH MY YOUNGER SELF

A little while ago I came across a TikTok trend inspired by a poem by Jennae Cecelia where she meets her younger self for coffee and the conversation they have with each other. When I looked into it further it seemed like a great exercise in looking back and seeing where I've come from, and where I've ended up. To acknowledge who I've been and how that younger person's efforts have created the life I have now.

This is the original poem:

MY THREE DELIGHTS FROM APRIL

MY APRIL DELIGHTS

As I mentioned at the beginning of January when I chose "Delight" as my Word of the Year, I thought I'd round off each month with three delights. April has been a lovely month with Easter holidays giving us time spent with our children and grandgirls. Today it's time to share a family delight, a bathroom delight, and a quote about finding delight in the everyday moments that come our way.

So, without further ado here are my three delights from April...

WHAT DOES EASTER MEAN TO YOU?

EASTER IS OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR

I think this Easter was the best one I've had in recent memory. It was just full of all the things that make my heart happy - so much joy shared with those I love. I thought I'd do a little recap of it all as my small homage to The.Best.Easter.Ever....

10 THOUGHTS FROM LES BROWN TO INSPIRE THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE

A FAMOUS LES BROWN QUOTE

I think all Midlifers have come across this quote from Les Brown at some point: 

You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.

But there are so many other ideas of his that I'd never heard, and they make so much sense as I navigate this second half of life. I thought I'd share some of them here today, and hopefully a few might ring true for you too...

LIFE CAN IMITATE ART ....OR IT CAN IMITATE A HOME RENOVATION

ART vs A BATHROOM RENO

I was thinking about life the other day and remembered the Oscar Wilde quote "Life imitates Art..." and that might be the case for some people, but my recent experience has led me to believe that Life actually imitates a bathroom renovation. 

We're currently in the middle of a complete gutting and remodelling of our upstairs bathroom; to say it's been a journey would be to gloss over all the chaos and disruption that comes with turning a 20 year old bathroom into a lovely new space. During the process I could see the correlation to the journey of life....

MY THREE DELIGHTS FROM MARCH

MY MARCH DELIGHTS

As I mentioned at the beginning of January when I chose "Delight" as my Word of the Year, I thought I'd round off each month with three delights. March has been a lovely month here in Australia - cooling off a little from the incessant summer heat (hooray!), and today I'm sharing for March a personal delight, a furry delight, and a quote about savouring the small delights.

So, without further ado here are my three delights for March...

WHAT DOES REST LOOK LIKE IN MIDLIFE? AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?

WHEN "REST" KEEPS APPEARING

I've noticed that the word "Rest" has been appearing in my Facebook feed a lot lately, and I'm finding myself drawn to thoughts and words that repeat in patterns - I feel like life is trying to tell me something. So when this quote arrived on my screen I decided I needed to curate a few of those restful reminders and share them...

TAKING A LITTLE ROADTRIP TO ALBANY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

TAKING A LITTLE BREAK DOWN SOUTH

The retired life for us is a very pleasant one. We live close to the ocean, close to a river, close to an estuary, close to places to hike, to swim, to stroll, to shop, and to generally enjoy. It makes us a little bit lazy when it comes to taking time to go on vacation - we don't need to take a break from anything.

That being said, it's still good for the soul to have a change of scenery, to step away from routines and doing the same things each week. So, we decided to take a little roadtrip down south to Albany. It's a lovely town and it's where we spent our first year of married life - 42 years ago. We've been back several times since, but it still calls to us every few years and last week we decided to answer the call and spend a few days away from home....

RE-SHAPING ASAP (AS SOON AS POSSIBLE) INTO A NEW AND BETTER FIT

SOMETHING OLD BECOMES SOMETHING NEW

We all know that ASAP normally stands for As Soon As Possible - but a little while ago I came across a new set of descriptors for the abreviation that I felt fitted my age and stage so much better. I no longer have to be running around getting everything done right now and right away, my life flows more calmly and these new ideas fit me so much better....

ARE YOU MAKING THE MOST OF THE SUMMERS YOU HAVE LEFT TO ENJOY?

COUNTING MY SUMMERS...

I read a poem by my favourite poet, Ullie-Kaye, the other day that was titled "80 Summers" and it reminded me of an article I saw a little while ago while I was cruising around online.  It asked the question "How Many Summers Do I Have Left?" and it made me pause for a moment to count them - it doesn't feel like the number was anywhere near as high as I'd expected it to be.

So, I've been asking myself what happened to the summers that have gone, and what I can do with the summers that I have left?