joyful gratitude

Quiet morning off

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #42

Every second week I have the Friday off from work. I enjoy those Fridays even more than regular weekend days because I feel like I have this precious time for myself while the world around me is working.

Spending those mornings in one of my favorite cafés without needing to rush anywhere is bliss. I love watching the baristas at work, taking the time to reflect on the past week in my journal, observing other customers (I confess I also really like eavesdropping and hearing the most unexpected conversations)… I am grateful for these pockets of quiet time off to recharge my batteries.

Relaxing walk

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IMG_3454JOYFUL GRATITUDE #41

The great thing about working from home once in a while, is that on those days I don’t need to cycle back through the bustling city and instead as soon as I finish work I can take a relaxing walk around the neighbourhood to get some fresh air.

I’m grateful for a lovely stroll with Paolo, along our usual route (a.k.a. la via Fannigena) that is bathed in sunlight in the early evening.  As we walk and chat, we have our tiny habits like stopping to look if there are any treasures in the free little library, people-watching and checking on the tiny fruit garden by the canal. It’s always such a nice way to reconnect after a busy day:)

Seeing Amsterdam with fresh eyes

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20170812_163959JOYFUL GRATITUDE #40

A great thing about having dear friends over from abroad is that you get to explore your city with fresh eyes.  It was a wonderful weekend of walking around different neighbourhoods, having lovely talks over steaming bowls of ramen, cycling for kilometers past cute farmhouses along the Amstel and soaking in the atmosphere of a sparkly daytime dj persevering despite the rain…

The last time these friends visited me was in 2006 just a few weeks after I first moved to Amsterdam. So much has changed around Amsterdam since then, practically none of this skyline seen from NDSM was as it is today. I’m so grateful for living in this amazing city that keeps evolving and that I get to rediscover all the time:)

Chilling in Haarlem

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #39

There are those magic days where you travel to another city to meet with a friend for no other reason than to go and eat scones! Hooray!

Then you explore the tiny, well-kept streets overflowing with plants, and somehow later find yourself sitting in the sun for hours, enjoying vegan delicacies and talking about ‘everything and nothing’ like we say in French:) One topic leads to another and you start reminiscing about the books you read (or didn’t read!) as a teenager – Adrian Mole’s diary, Watership Down, ‘Fucked up youth’ (??, so curious about that last one;).

So grateful for the simple pleasure of good company, tasty food and lots of laughs!

A dash of orange

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #36

These stunning bright orange lichens grow all over the rocks throughout Capraia. I tried to photograph them repeatedly but the pictures don’t really do justice to how marvelous they are.

As we were exploring the island, our guide Mariella explained that Capraia counts in total around 400 types of lichen, which I’d say is not bad for an island measuring just 20 square kilometers. I’m grateful to Pacha Mama for having created such diversity even in the tiny details, with insanely fascinating shapes and gorgeous colours.

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Ginger bumble bee

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #33

While we were hiking up Sgurr Coire Choinnichean (the mountain with an unpronouceable name just above Inverie on the Knoydart Peninsula), I stopped to look out over the gorgeous view (and perhaps also to catch my breath) and came across this cute little fella who was also resting for a few moments. I love how even the bumble bees are ginger in Scotland:)

 

Enjoying an evening stroll

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #32

In these days close to the solstice, after-dinner walks in the lovely soft light are a real pleasure. As Paolo and I stroll around the neighbourhood, we mostly have the streets to ourselves apart for a few joggers or people walking their dog, and it’s perfect to chat and process our day with each other.

A few weeks ago on our way home from of one of those walks, we came across this heron, quietly poised on a trunk by the canal. It seems to me as if he was also enjoying a moment of calm in the dusk. Unfortunately our arrival disturbed him, and just a few seconds later he took flight…

Little haven of peace

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #31

I’m grateful  for this time of the year when the sun sets really late, making the evenings seem so much longer.  During a recent after-dinner stroll with Paolo, I spotted this lovely little place by the water, which seems perfect for escaping the hectic rhythm of the city.

I love the palette of greens, and how the chair looks like it’s just waiting for a casual visitor to sit down and reflect on the origin of the universe, whilst watching the ducks and waterhens paddle by.

Shoot for the stars

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #29

A special shout-out today to the universe for making star-shaped plants! Aren’t they simply beautiful?

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Sending snail mail

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #28

Though I love receiving postcards and letters, I think I enjoy sending them even more! The idea of the recipient opening their mailbox to find something other than bills and junk mail for a change makes me very happy. So last weekend I took some time to write some postal mail to a few friends around the world.

Here’s my ritual. First I select a card or find some paper to write on (once on the Camino I didn’t have any paper so I just ripped out a few blank pages from the novel I was reading to write a letter, really anything will do).  I settle quietly and think of the person I’m writing to before jotting down a few words, it doesn’t have to be long. Then I attempt to write the address as legibly as possible, and stick on a stamp or two (bonus points for lovely stamps:).

Remembering to post the envelopes is usually my struggle as I tend to carry them around in my bag for a few days by mistake before I finally send them off on their way…  The uncertainty of when (and whether?) the postal mail will arrive is a large part of the magic of sending postal mail.

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Simple tips for writing more snail mail:

  • buy nice postcards or greeting cards when you see them in shops, having them handy at home makes it so much easier and quicker to write one
  • always have a stock stamps in the house, this saves the effort of having to go out to buy them specifically
  • write postal mail in batches of a few postcards/letters at a time for increased efficiency and satisfaction