no blogs?

“No blogs?”, prods my bro-in-law. Well, no… life is too complicated at the moment. As a result, I have been inactive and the usual stream of mountain images has ground to a halt.

But here, all the same, are some snaps from yesterday:

The blog is a strange animal – a celebration of the good things in life, and also a way of sharing the twists and turns. Unlike Facebook I don’t feel pressure to be gung-ho positive. But treading the line between authenticity, and breaching privacy for those close to me, is not easy. So I will keep this short and sweet by directing you to Diana Ross, who pretty much has my number in the lyrics to "Do you know...". Click here.

And by sharing a scribble I did at the WWNG (Working Women’s Network of Grenoble) seminar on “Knowing yourself and setting objectives”, last Saturday:

There I am, floating in dark hyperspace, between the past (on the left) and future (the right).

Before the day of the seminar participants had been asked to solicit views from people who had seen us in different situations of “flow”, or aliveness. It was no surprise to have confirmed that yes, I am alive and passionate when I’m in nature – either the garden or mountains, expressing myself freely in a (therapeutic) dance environment, sometimes doing shiatsu, teaching shiatsu, or when I am writing. Most recently it was my Japan trip that fired me up, filling me a sense of wonder and contentedness.

The invitation was to jump into our future vision and then map out a first step for getting there. But my “future” was entirely abstract, based on feelings, with nothing of any practical substance on which to base an initial target. So I’m afraid I didn’t even get off the starting block, and left the seminar no further forward with my “project”, or even with a sense of having a project. But I had the pleasure of connecting with several people in the very dynamic group, strengthening relationships and building new ones. It was a positive experience.

So all I need to do now is find a way or earning a living where I offer shiatsu retreats, teaching or organizing self-development courses in a mountain location where I can simultaneously write and illustrate with my own photos a book of mountain walks, and offer an exclusive B & B facility where I astound the world with my exquisite dishes. And from time to time someone will pay me to do an exotic trip of the style “middle-aged woman astounds herself and the world by…”, or to write about my experiences on the receiving end of therapy. And find a way of doing all of that within a relationship…