dancing to your own tune...

Yesterday, I was having a conversation over lunch with my friend M and we were talking about life as such and choices and, you know, single middle-aged women’s stuff and I said at some point that the unconventional is confusing for most people... but, I would not dance to anyone else’s tune!

The choice many women make nowadays to not live a conventional life (study something “sensible”, get married in your thirties with a man you cannot stand by the time you are in your forties, work until you have 1.8 kids, or whatever the European average is these days, and then quit your job to take care of them, have an unbearable mortgage, an SUV and two weeks of utterly exhausting holidays every year, usually with parents and/or in-laws... that kind of stuff...) is really a puzzle to most people, women and men.
And it is understandable. We humans learn to deal with what we are used to encountering in our lives but with the things we rarely come across, we get confused... we don’t know how to behave around them... we are often scared of them... Unconventional women are not common although, it makes me very happy to report, we are more and more every day!

But ok, we are still a small minority and very often people get confused by our life choices... by my life choices... because they cannot “put me in a box” to feel good about the marvellous order in their heads... yeah, you know, fine by me, I’m not the problem, they are! I don’t want to be in a box until I’m dead.... and even then, just throw me in the incinerator, no box necessary! In reality, I’m sort of ok when people “don’t get me”, most of the times I myself don’t get people! But that’s ok too! I just keep living my life the way I want! Besides, isn’t it the saddest thing to live your life the way others feel more comfortable with?! Isn’t it the saddest thing to try to please everyone else but yourself?! We only have one life! One! What a terrible waste it would be to live it the way others want us to, instead of the way we want to live it!

So, I dance to my own tune and, I tell you, it is better than shoes!

Wimbledon...

I love watching tennis! What’s not to love?! Technique, talent, composure, strategy, precision, power, ethics (well... usually), spectacle and the only sport that when you are left with nothing, it’s called “love”!

And Wimbledon for me, and for many more, is the top event of the sport every year! I remember, when I was a teenager, I would watch on those hot July afternoons in Greece, while eating cooled watermelon, the likes of Bjorne Borg and John McEnroe and later André Agassi and I would be so fascinated... until my dad would wake up from his afternoon nap and normally take over the TV (yes, in the 80s’, homes had only one TV set, what did you think?!) or sometimes he would watch a bit with me... so cool! Rare moments of bliss!

Still to this day, the first two weeks of July put me in tennis mood! I have not missed the Wimbledon finals in years (ok, except for last year that I was, ironically, in London...) but in principle, I watch every day! I come back from work, fix myself a quick meal and I plant myself in front of the big screen to watch, often, history being written! Like, just a while ago, I witnessed a 15 year old, Cori (Coco) Gauff, defeat her idol, no other than Venus Williams herself! In the first round! In straight sets! What a kid! What a match! Imagine for a moment being in her shoes! It brought tears to my eyes (that happens more and more often lately... I’m getting old I guess...), I felt so proud of her! I don’t know her but... do we really need to know someone to feel proud of them?... no... I don’t think so!

So, just so you know, for the next two weeks, I’m watching Wimbledon and it’s “better than shoes”... in case you miss me... 😉

an afternoon in the sun...

The summer surely took its time to come to my part of the world but it’s finaly here! The temperature has risen in the last couple of days, the skies are clear and the sun has been shining generously upon us!

So, on this lazy Sunday afternoon, there was no doubt about what the choice was... my chaise longue was calling me and I responded gladly! Armed with an iced tea (ok, full disclosure, I did fix myself a vodka with exotic fruits’ juice later... I was not going to drive anywhere...) some almonds (I tend to get peckish in the afternoon... and the evening... and the morning come to think of it...), my ciggies and my iPad, I planted myself to the most comfortable sunny spot in the city! My balcony! I mean, don’t get me wrong, the beach can be fun but let’s face it, on my balcony I have the sun all afternoon, a lounge chair with its matching footstool, drinks, snacks and a marvellous view to the sea! Plus, no screaming kids and running dogs so there’s really no competition!

Also, I discovered I can still watch Netflix outside (Wi-Fi is strong and I got a cable extension) and the nap I took at some point was sooooo sweet, almost as good as on my sofa! Bliss! And yes, it is Sunday and no one can escape the Sunday blues but such a pleasant, sunny Sunday afternoon definitely eases up the pain of having to go to work tomorrow! If we get to have more of those, it’s going to be a lovely summer! A “better than shoes” one 😉