awareness...

What a summer! I mean, really, what a summer this has been... I wish I could go on writing about the lovely dinners on the balcony or the drinks out in the open with friends, or my new bicycle (in fact, this may deserve a full post on its own... I may get back to it...) or about how great it has been wearing sandals and sun dresses for almost two months... But this post is about something else. It's about awareness.

Last month I was diagnosed with skin cancer. I got the news by phone and I have to tell you the word alone, the "big C" word, even when it is only the less bad kind it can possibly be, it has a weight that is very difficult to describe. I was overwhelmed. I did spend a weekend being overly sarcastic about my situation, desperately trying to laugh about what was not all funny... Then, the practicalities took over, the removal surgery was scheduled and I went (finally) on holidays. I would be lying if I were to say that it ever left my mind... a week of rain in the north of Africa did not help either... But I tried.

Two days ago I had the surgery. Though I remain worried about the scar it will leave, the little bugger having lived on my decolletage for some time now, I focus on the fact that I have been cancer free for these two days and I surely hope it will continue like this for many, many, many years!

Having been aware of my condition was frightening. Going to the doctor, having the biopsy, it all was daunting. But I do prefer a thousand times better to have known and treated as quickly as possible. My point being: choose awareness! Choose to have the regular tests, choose to have the exams, choose this type of fear of knowledge as the other kind, the kind which comes following the alternative behavior of avoidance is, I bet you, far far worse!

So, do not hesitate, if something looks and/or feels weird on your body, go check it out. Be aware. It can save your life. Which, no doubt about it, is better than shoes ;)

Life...

The summer has finally come to this part of the world I live in... Kinda late but, oh well, water under the bridge :) So I have had my fair share of sunshine, of dinning out with friends and enjoyed a drink on the terrace next to my house (location is everything...). And on Sunday morning I had my coffee on my balcony, a dream coming true, and I kept a big smile on my face thinking that life, oh life (to borrow the words of a beautiful song) is good...

And all this would have been my "better than shoes" subject of this post... Unfortunately life is also unpredictable... On Monday a colleague ended his life by falling out of a window at work... I will not go into details, little importance do they have... A life was lost though and that is what is important... You might say that by the time you finish reading this thousands of people will have died and you will be right, his life is not more important than any other. But also not less important. You might also say that this is not a positive thing to share, certainly not the kind I have promised to share with you from this blog. I will agree with you. 

Life, though, IS better than shoes, and sometime we forget how much better than anything else, we take everything for granted right after we open our eyes in the morning, we breath, we live and we don't even notice it sometimes... Then something happens and it reminds us the value of life, it makes us think again how precious is this gift we have been given. The gift of living and loving and laughing and crying and hurting even... The gift of being... And that needs to be noted. 

I feel exactly that way since Monday. Granted, this is not only what I feel but the rest is really not appropriate for this post, it's pretty grim. So, I make this effort to focus on the bright side, even if only for the sake of this post, to celebrate life, to go back to my Sunday morning feeling of "life is good" and to remind to all of you to live before you die ;) 

the theater...

...is better than shoes! Obviously, from a Greek who has drama written in her DNA and who's been known to be a queen of it herself, you would no expect anything different ;)

I miss the theater! The fact is that I live here in the lower lands for almost 13 years now and I must confess that I do not enjoy the idea of a theater play where actors speak Dutch... My knowledge of the language would allow me to follow the plot (even if not completely) but I do not enjoy the sound of the language... so I avoid it...

Yes, I do miss it and I realize how much when I have the opportunity to watch a play... or a musical... or both ;) As expected, my recent trip to New York provided for this too. I was lucky enough to see "Vanya and Sonia and Macha and Spike" on the day that it actually won this year's Tony Award for Best Play and, boy, was it worth it! Amazing, true, heartfelt, memorable performances, a story parts of which deeply touched my heart and... Sigourney Weaver! I have had a crush on her since the last Alien... ;) And all that with discounted last minute tickets!

But that was not all, I also went to see "The book of Mormon", the best musical I have ever seen, opinion that a lot of people share with me apparently given the 7 Tony Awards it has won! That was something!!! The most controversial, caustic, blasphemous even story, which I found most incredibly smart and amusing, the wonderful production with great music and lyrics (those were some lyrics, I tell you...) and dancing and the beautiful voices and performances of the cast, all that made it an unforgetable experience!! And on my birthday on top of it!!

Now, I am not a theater critic, in fact I have a rather limited knowledge of it and my words fail me when it comes to describing this type of experiences but I know what I like when I see it. And if I like it a lot, but really a lot, then I think of it as "better than shoes" and I share it with you. And I strongly recommend it. Like in this case ;)