Saturday 28 August 2010

a positive outlook on life...

I have a very good friend back home... well, I have many and I consider myself privileged for that (I have already expressed how I feel about my friends in this blog, will not repeat...) but I just wanted to talk about this specific one: She is the one who taught me the importance and the benefit of having a positive outlook on life! She had not have it easy in her life, no sir... But she always manages to see the bright side (no Monty Python stuff...) on almost everything. She is not a saint nor a martyr and she is certainly not always happy but she helped me see that things are what they are, some we can change and some not, but how we look at things (and life...) is up to us! Entirely! And this is a marvelous thing!!! A "better than shoes" thing!

Surely it is easier to be sour... it is easier to have a nasty, bitchy, negative comment than a nice one... "yeah, sure she is young, tall and pretty but look at those ankles!!!" Ok, perhaps it is true that the goddess next door has chubby ankles but... who cares? Why feel the need to point that out?? Can't we just see her beauty, wherever that is, and stay in that? It is easy to be sarcastic and pissy and negative but what about just being positive? Surely we can disagree with people, but why be so insecure and childish as to try and ridicule their views? Surely we can tell a friend that she looks fat (and perhaps it is true that she gained a bit of weight lately...) but what do we gain?? Why not just say "you look great" and not as a fake, empty compliment but because she really looks great in out eyes! Because we see her as beautiful!! Because we choose to see her as beautiful!

And no, by this I do not mean to see it all roses!!! This would not be true, nobody likes everything and everyone! It is not possible to agree with everyone all the time! All I'm trying to say is that maintaining a positive outlook on life has the advantage of improving our life for real (no placebo effect...) and that sometimes it would be better not to say anything if we have nothing good to say... the world as it is is full of negativity anyway...

I have chosen to try to be positive... And this blog is a grand proof of my efforts!! I have promised to keep positive and I have not disappointed myself yet as  have managed NOT to pass to you all the bad (or just the annoying) stuff that has happened to me over the last two years... No, I do not manage to keep positive always... I, too, tend to whine and be grumpy and moody and complaining... In those moments though, I do make an effort to find the bright side of things... it is always there to be seen!And if you can't see it at first glance, look again ;) And if that fails, put on a pair of high heels and look at the world from a different angle :)

Dignity...

The Oxford Dictionary defines dignity as "the state or quality of being worthy of respect"... if I were to try and define it (well... in the improbable case that anyone would ask me to define "dignity"...) I would just mention a name: Vanessa Redgrave

Of course I had seen her films... and TV series... and heard about her theater work, though never had the pleasure to actually see one of them... I did know that she comes from a theater family and that great talent has been the "family heirloom" and that her brother and sister were also actors and I had known them too... But all of that did not prepare me for the overflow of emotion that I was to experience while watching an interview she gave to the BBC some time ago. It was late at night, on a Sunday I think, I was already in bed (yes, no party animal here...) and I saw it being advertised that the interview with this amazing woman would pass. Needless to say I stayed up, excited I would get to know her a bit better!

And I did! What a lady!!! The soft, almost seducing, warm voice, the movement of her hands, the smile on her beautiful face, the grace of her manners, the wisdom of her words and the humility and love with which she expressed herself about acting.... I was charmed! A political person with strong views, an actor who has played all that it was worth playing, a mother who lost a child, a sister who lost two brothers and a sister and, above all in my opinion, a woman who appeared, for lack of a better word, complete... And the way she spoke, calm and steady and composed yet passionate... I could not stop thinking that that is dignity!

Respect for others makes us better human beings, I think. And since dignity is the state of being worthy of respect, then, dignity of others makes us respect them hence becoming better... and if, just if, we could make others better by our own dignity, what a great power this would be! In any case, and for fear of starting to talk nonsense, as these concepts are rather complicated and it is quite late,  I will just stop now by simply saying that dignity is better than shoes and leave you to your conclusions...

Monday 9 August 2010

In vino veritas...

...and that is the truth!! Though the effects of wine on walking in high heels have often been disastrous since the beginning of time... or at least since when the high heels were invented (some say the inventor was Leonardo Da Vinci, but then again most inventions are accredited to him...) and rightfully so, as anyone who tried to balance on a 10cm stilettos after 3 or 4 glasses of wine will testify, the fact remains that a good wine is better than shoes!

I love wine... and the universe has cursed me not to be able to drink the red one... some sort of allergy, don't know exactly what, to the tannins which makes me have the most horrible migraines when I drink it... The connoisseurs will tell you that the true masterpieces of wine have a ruby colour... and they will be right. However, since I discovered that I cannot tolerate the red, I have also discovered the  wonders of white wine! And there are indeed so many to choose from! Sweet ones, dry ones, desert ones, the list is long and some of them are really amazing! Personal favourites include the Riesling, the Pouilly Fumé and the marvelous Sancerre and not to forget the magical Ice Wine for which I have written before!

Luckily, my alergy excludes the wonderful Port wine :) which, by the way, is one of the great pleasure in my life! Many times, on a Friday, at the end of the working week, I have skipped proper dinner just to enjoy a glass of wine with a good cheese! And I have not regretted it at all! During my recent holidays I have had the opportunity to enjoy some great wines and this is the reason why I decided to write about it now. And yes, as said before and unsurprisingly, I have not been able to combine succesfully wine and high heels, but this has never been a reason not to appreciate both of them :)

Friday 6 August 2010

walking by the water...

I have always associated my holidays with the water... Water of the blue sea where I would dive for hours and let only my feet show (and have them tanned always more than the rest of my body...) and and then carry marks from the mask all over my face for the rest of the day... Water icy cold that I would drink greedily after having played under the hot sun with my friends... Water melon, perfectly prepared from my mum, that I would devour in the afternoon, after the siesta... Water that would fill my eyes when the holidays were over and I had to say goodbye to my friends and promise to meet them at the same place next year...

In these last few years, more water features have been added to my list of favourites... walking by the water of the ocean for example... We got to know each other only very recently and it is true that we are not the best of friends yet (tooooo many sea weeds, to many waves... tooooo much of a wimp I am...) but walking next to it is one of the pleasures that I can not have enough of... And the rivers... No, I did not grow up next to one of them nor had many experiences of them as a kid but now that I got to know their beauty, and the usual beauty of the landscape around them, I am smitten for life!

During my recent holidays, one of things I enjoyed most, was (obvioulsy...) walking by the water... Stary sky, the city lights reflecting on the water mirror, the calmness of the view and the pleasant smell, things that put a smile on my face and made me think "...this, is better than shoes!"...
And you will know what I mean if you give it a try, go to the nearest body of water (no, the water boiller does not count...), take a long walk next to it and savour the experience... and if it is beach you find yourselves at, take your shoes off... you don't want sand all over them Alaïa sandals, do you??  :)