. I've spent 16 years now in north London and finally things are starting to aline. Many of you from small towns will probably take this completely for granted. If you were to talk to someone about a product that you bought or a gym class or your dentist. You might actually know what the other person is talking about or where to find it. You might live in a town that only has one Tesco or one Sainsbury's. This is not the case for me. I live in a big city that is populated with millions of people. My circles until now have never crossed.
Have a listen to all the 'crossing' that's been happening since March 1st 2017. A lot of this is North London but I feel that I've finally arrived. I don't know how else to explain it. Most of these stories all happened at the recent wedding in Israel.
When I worked at the NHS there was a guy in IT. At the wedding someone who knew I worked at this specific NHS trust asked if I knew him. She then went on to say that her neighbour's daughter was to marry him. Random, but I actually know who he is.
I'm talking to a guy about yoga and reiki and he tells me that he has had reiki done by Carly Garce. I then burst out with, 'OMG! Carly is my reiki master!' Wow! We then go on to talk about the infrared sauna at the yoga studio he attends. I've never been, don't have a membership, it's more than I can fork out at the moment.
I'm taking to a guy about veganism and he says that his favourite restaurant is vegan (although he is not) and it's Vantra/Vitao. I'm like, OMG! I'm going there on Saturday for the first time. It's my friends hen party.
At another point I'm talking to the groom's cousins husband and my first job in the U.K. comes up. I use to work at JD Sports on Oxford Street in the 90's. He asked if I knew Kofee and Pam. YES! Pam was my boss and Kofee was her partner. He grew up with Kofee in east London. Random again!
At one point I'm messaging a friend and randomly we are taking about favourite animals and he says once it was a wolf. 🐺 2 days later at breakfast I'm holding one of the wedding guests gorgeous baby son. His name is wolf in Hebrew.
There is just umpteen things / comments that have happened. I often forget how educated I am when it comes to religions and faiths. I took classes in Judaism in college. (As well as Islam and Catholicism - also went to catholic school runed by nuns). If I had a buck / pound for every time someone asked me if I was Jewish I would be rich! They would only ask me once we were talking, as I'm quite aware of customs words traditions etc.
On the last day at breakfast I had a load of people stopping me because they loved my tshirt. I've had it a few months and it's never got so much love before.
It reads:
Race: Human
Politics: Freedom
Religion: Love
Friday March 10th 2017 (still on annual leave)
I started my day off with the necessary adult duties of laundry. Once I had a load washed and hung, I headed out to my friend Ellie. She's a new friend however our conversations and thoughts are so aligned. I've never been to Ellie's house so I met her south of the Thames. She's doing an online tarot card course so she pulled a load of tarot cards for me. The message that kept on coming over and over was to just chill, let go, stop thinking and just be. This is the story of my life but I feel that I'm always need reminding.
Ellie is fortunate enough to have a infrared sauna in her spare room. (Lucky ducky - I'll get one, one day) the medical benefits of infrared sauna's are really amazing. It's very different to a normal sauna and far more powerful. Towards the end of my visit I sat in there naked for 45 minutes and even had a nap. She was doing paperwork work downstairs, plus she uses the sauna for 20 minutes daily. Very few places in London have these types of saunas. There is a place in Notting Hill that charge £38 for 20 min! Yikes! I know I won't be able to use Ellie's sauna often but it was a delightful treat. Thank you x
Now let's talk about the universe and money. I'm surviving but not flourishing financially. I would like to pay off all debts, flourish and give more to charity. (Since the age of 16 - I give to charity).
The day before I was flying out to Israel, it dawned on my that I actually need some jewellery to wear with the dress. I was rushing around town and by the time I finished buying all the bling it was £80. I only wear real jewellery so fake stuff is a one off. Once I was in Israel, on a free day I went to the local mall and found much better and cheaper things that I purchased and used instead. So yesterday I did some returns and got £62 back! Thank you universe.
For a while now the bottom corner of my phone cover/case has been broken. So when I drop my phone on that corner, it's completely exposed and not protected. The cover that I had was an apple original product. They are expensive in my option but I love that they are silicone (vegan) and no slip, good grip. I've decided recently that it's high time I get a new cover seeing the last time I dropped my phone the corner got chipped. I walk into apple and picked a new cover. While chatting to the girl who is taking my payment I point to my existing cover and say, I hope it doesn't break here again. She then asked how long I've had it. '11 months and I have the electronic receipt!' Her reply was, 'Well then, we'll just swap it free!' Thank you universe for just saving me £35
I've had a swatch watch since I was a teen. I don't always wear it, but I own it. The battery in my swatch stopped about 2 years ago. I was about to head over Timpson's as I passed Swatch. I walked in to see what they charge. Free for all swatch watches! Thank you Universe (worth noting that Timpsons and Greggs the baker hire ex convicts / criminals and people with spent convictions. I believe in reform and support these companies)
I'm walking around town and bumped into my old housemate. He moved out in February and only lasted 3 months. That's very short. Most of the guys I live with stay for about 3 years. This guy was in a bad place and I suppose we both thought that it would work out. Well it didn't and it was a relief when he left. He's got some major stuff to sort out in his life. None the less I wished him well when he left, and knew nothing about his new movements. It was nice to talk to him for a couple minutes and he's doing better. Although he too was released back to the universe and no longer in my life. I was still curious. Now I know he's ok ish.
Saturday March 11th 2017 - Bride number 2's hen party
This was quite a interesting group of people. From the look of things, I think the bride has a variety of different circles of friends. Pro's and cons. Many knew each other but I'm guessing few know her. That's not the case for me. We met on a residential yoga retreat in Portugal in 2013. Since then 80% of our catch-ups are walking around parks. Nothing beats a good walk and talk.
Anyhow, back to this group. I was not feeling it at all. Many were super bitchy, even when they were trying to be nice it was so forced. I survived as I always do, however it's unlikely I will socialise with this crew. I did a whole lot of people watching and observing. Occasionally I had to speak up when it came to the vegan stuff.
Might as well start with that. The bride is not a 110% vegan like me. She's probably a 60% she tries but also eats a load of non vegan food. Fish, dairy meat etc. Why I've given her a 60% it's because she's does full vegan meals often and sometimes does full vegan days. Anyhow, the point of this explanation, is that it was the bride who picked the vegan restaurant! NOT ME (thank you universe none the less for delivering)
Before the first activity - scavenger hunt even began. One of the girls was complaining about the evening meal. What's wrong with people. She hasn't even gone there yet or looked at the menu. Her negative energy was constant throughout the day. And would you guess who had a shitty day? HER! Serves her right. During the scavenger hunt she refused to wear the 'Where's Wally / Wanda?' hat and glasses 👓. The rest of us all made the effort. Her day got worse when we went for dinner. Due to her making loads of harsh vegan comments, I was able to give her some back, in a kinder gentler way. Other people had loads of positive comments and I would reply. 'Thank you for being understanding and excepting, what I'm doing is for myself and I'm not telling other people what to do.' You could tell that the meanie knew that message was intended for her. She's gone now, I've released her back to the universe immediately.
Let's talk about passing judgement / opinion. Is it humanly possible to not have some kind of opinion on most matters? I'm careful to avoid confrontation and keep my opinions to myself. We are all entitled to our own thoughts. - At the same table is a pregnant lady. She was 2 people away so although I could hear everything, I wasn't involved in the conversation. Her parents are abroad and she only wants them to come once the baby is 3 weeks old. She is hiring a night nurse!
You guys should live in my head for a few minutes if you can handle it. Let's recap what's going on in my head. 'What the fuck! A night nurse! Seriously!'
I'll stop there. I don't want to loose any of my faithful readers. Thinks that's only one or two people. Lastly, when it came to the same person. We were talking about where we live. Her reply was the beginning of her post code. What the fuck again! Seriously! I know my London postcodes, I also know it's one, if not the most expensive postcode in the country. Who fucking cares! Just say where the fuck you live. Man some people really piss me off.
Sunday March 12th 2017 - full moon!!
The wonders of Mother Nature are on display at Columbia Road Flower Market. Such a special place on a Sunday morning in London. I've got flowers for my bedroom, the office at work and some for the house. Pictures on Instagram
Later that day, I met up with a friend and her daughter. I don't see her often and we have little small talk. Her life, childhood, upbringing and employment is so different to me. It's very hard to relate. So when we talk, I ask real questions. If I wanted to talk about the weather. I would talk to my beloved father. (He still mentions the weather in 50% of all our conversations, texts and emails)
Anyways. A few days later I've received a text from her saying: Yes I'm fine, thanks. I don't know how to say this diplomatically but I didn't enjoy our last meet-up, as so often happens after seeing you i ended up feeling interrogated and judged. I do genuinely know you don't mean to, but this seems to be the dynamic that has developed between us. Apologies if this comes across as harsh, I don't know how else to put it...
Oh well, what can I do. I see it like it is. If you don't want an intelligent emotionally deep, caring, loving friend. Then there is not much I can do.
If there is only one word on my grave stone it would read 'Friend' and one day I hope it changes to 'Loved'
While we are talking about the friendship cull. Let's talk about another friend of mine. This one is a male. I've known him since 2004, that's a while ago now. Anyways, he kind of wants me but can't have me. He's not my type but he is a great friend. He hasn't tried any real moves over the years. He did once hold my hand in the cinema before I pulled it back. I really don't want guys getting the wrong impression. I'm not a player, it's wrong to give people hope when there isn't any at all. He's got a lot of crap going on in his life. I've learned a lot in the last few years. I don't take on people's 'stuff', if I can help with my friendship then I will. That's it, that's all. So last month I had a really painful bacterial chest infection (think I might still have it). So I was texting him and tell him and his asshole reply was 'I can rub your chest for you'
Seriously! What a stupid fucker! There's another person off the list. He doesn't have the balls either to confront his stupidity. I didn't reply and haven't heard from him either
Think I'll end there, this is getting long
Laters
Lxx
Friday, 17 March 2017
Monday, 6 March 2017
Vegan? Seriously? YES!!!!!
Hi all, where to begin.
Let's start with the whole Vegan thing. It seems to be causing a whole lot of shit amongst people and I just don't get it?
What ever I may be doing, I'm doing it to myself. I'm not hurting anyone or anything. I may be posting lots of things on Instagram but that's social media. I'm not walking up to you or anyone telling you what to do. You have your own lives and I have mine. There is plenty of literature out there to help you form your own decisions.
This now brings me to stupid things people say.
This morning at the hotel restaurant, I did my standard thing and go to the chef to let he or she know that I've arrived. Another lady severed me and was going to the kitchen to pass on the message. I explained that I'm a Teev-oh-NEET which is vegan in Hebrew, (boys are Teev-oh-NEE).
Even though restaurant/ kitchen staff should have a basic understanding of what that is, I quickly run through it with them. No meat, dairy, eggs, seafood etc. She then looks at me and says in English 'So you don't eat anything?'
She kind of threw me off so my reply was, 'I eat vegetables'. Even as the words were coming out of my mouth I was thinking, 'whoa, you eat way more than just veggies'. I then immediately came back and said, I eat lentils and was about to carry on but she got it. She cut the conversation and went to order my food.
Now lets progress to the insensitivity of some shit-heads that exist out there. I posted a picture of what I think to be a very cute piglet wearing 4 red wellie boots. I wrote, 'What a cutie, how could anyone want to eat him?'
Some 'not so bright spark' replied with, 'Very easily and with ketchup!'
How can people be so rude and confrontational. Why? Haven't people learned to keep thier offensive options to themselves.
Next on my rant. My family are coming to London in the next few months. I have told them that my home is vegan and only vegan food is allowed. This simple request has turned their world upside down. My sister is now complaining that she can't afford a hotel. - what the hell? All I'm saying is eat vegan when you're in the house. If you fancy eating dead animals. Do it elsewhere. My dad has now asked if he can eat takeaway in the shed? Seriously? These people sound like they have never gone a day or meal in their life that didn't contain meat, dairy, eggs etc. Have they forgotten that my mom has been a veggie for over 30 years? This is just exhausting.
For my closing note, I found this on the internet. Shame that I've struggled a lot at times.
The modern Hebrew word for veganism is tiv-o-NOOT, which predates the word "vegan" by almost a decade, making Hebrew possibly the first language to have a word for the vegan diet.
Let's start with the whole Vegan thing. It seems to be causing a whole lot of shit amongst people and I just don't get it?
What ever I may be doing, I'm doing it to myself. I'm not hurting anyone or anything. I may be posting lots of things on Instagram but that's social media. I'm not walking up to you or anyone telling you what to do. You have your own lives and I have mine. There is plenty of literature out there to help you form your own decisions.
This now brings me to stupid things people say.
This morning at the hotel restaurant, I did my standard thing and go to the chef to let he or she know that I've arrived. Another lady severed me and was going to the kitchen to pass on the message. I explained that I'm a Teev-oh-NEET which is vegan in Hebrew, (boys are Teev-oh-NEE).
Even though restaurant/ kitchen staff should have a basic understanding of what that is, I quickly run through it with them. No meat, dairy, eggs, seafood etc. She then looks at me and says in English 'So you don't eat anything?'
She kind of threw me off so my reply was, 'I eat vegetables'. Even as the words were coming out of my mouth I was thinking, 'whoa, you eat way more than just veggies'. I then immediately came back and said, I eat lentils and was about to carry on but she got it. She cut the conversation and went to order my food.
Now lets progress to the insensitivity of some shit-heads that exist out there. I posted a picture of what I think to be a very cute piglet wearing 4 red wellie boots. I wrote, 'What a cutie, how could anyone want to eat him?'
Some 'not so bright spark' replied with, 'Very easily and with ketchup!'
How can people be so rude and confrontational. Why? Haven't people learned to keep thier offensive options to themselves.
Next on my rant. My family are coming to London in the next few months. I have told them that my home is vegan and only vegan food is allowed. This simple request has turned their world upside down. My sister is now complaining that she can't afford a hotel. - what the hell? All I'm saying is eat vegan when you're in the house. If you fancy eating dead animals. Do it elsewhere. My dad has now asked if he can eat takeaway in the shed? Seriously? These people sound like they have never gone a day or meal in their life that didn't contain meat, dairy, eggs etc. Have they forgotten that my mom has been a veggie for over 30 years? This is just exhausting.
For my closing note, I found this on the internet. Shame that I've struggled a lot at times.
The modern Hebrew word for veganism is tiv-o-NOOT, which predates the word "vegan" by almost a decade, making Hebrew possibly the first language to have a word for the vegan diet.
Thursday, 2 March 2017
Open your eyes
All you/we/us have to do is open our eyes.
There is so much love out there if you just look. Look 👀
For the sake of this blog, A's groom / husband is call G, his mom, from the previous entry is S.
I'm so happy that the Bride A is marrying into this family. There is so much love even though they want to ring each others neck sometimes. That's normal. Last night after 14 of us went and watched the the light show at the Tower of David. After it ended we needed to make our way back to the hotel. Some of us wanted to walk. (I love sightseeing) and others were beyond shattered and a taxi home was what they needed. S wanted to walk and so did I. Another 4 joined us while the others cabbed it. Before G made his decision he asked his mom if she wanted him to walk with her. S isn't old but she does stumble occasionally and the pavement is old. Very old in parts of Jerusalem.
I could tell that G wanted someone to be with S, and he was happy for that person to be him. I was also happy to be with her so I told him 'I've got her' I grabbed her arm and we lived happily ever after.
No, but really, even our subconscious mind has the ability to love. G, just puts himself out there for the people he loves and cares about. I'm just so happy that A has found her penguin. [side note of when I knew that G was right for A. Even before they met, G's father had died. During his last year of his life G went to the hospice every day to see his dad. - My last birthday was a bit of shamble. I invited a million people and only 5 people came. 5 important people. As the evening unwinded G had to go to another party and he said I could come along. (I was dressed up for a party) A was tired and went home. At the restaurant with his friends we all ordered our meals. Once the food arrived, one of the others girls dishes was wrong. He offered to swap his food with her's. That kind of kindness is not seen all that often. I knew then that he was a keeper. ~ a lot of my friends have chosen to be with people that that I'm just not sure of. My gut is unsure. - I'm sure about G]
I'm jumping around a lot, need to make this speedy as I've got to get up and head out soon. I'm going to walk to Temple Mount as the sun rises.
The group of wedding guests so far are so diverse. Diversity is so amazing, we need to embrace it more and stop being fearful of the unknown. The party so far contains guests who's home country are; Canada, Romania, Brazil, Poland, United Kingdom. As well as more diversity when it comes to our skin colour and sexual orientation and religion. There a black girl, and a Muslim gay guy too. The world is full of so much, so let's mix it up.
In less that 2 hours I will visit a historic sight that millions have fought over for centuries. All 3 large faiths believe bit is theirs. - the answer is, everything.... is everyone's.
Peace out
L xx
There is so much love out there if you just look. Look 👀
For the sake of this blog, A's groom / husband is call G, his mom, from the previous entry is S.
I'm so happy that the Bride A is marrying into this family. There is so much love even though they want to ring each others neck sometimes. That's normal. Last night after 14 of us went and watched the the light show at the Tower of David. After it ended we needed to make our way back to the hotel. Some of us wanted to walk. (I love sightseeing) and others were beyond shattered and a taxi home was what they needed. S wanted to walk and so did I. Another 4 joined us while the others cabbed it. Before G made his decision he asked his mom if she wanted him to walk with her. S isn't old but she does stumble occasionally and the pavement is old. Very old in parts of Jerusalem.
I could tell that G wanted someone to be with S, and he was happy for that person to be him. I was also happy to be with her so I told him 'I've got her' I grabbed her arm and we lived happily ever after.
No, but really, even our subconscious mind has the ability to love. G, just puts himself out there for the people he loves and cares about. I'm just so happy that A has found her penguin. [side note of when I knew that G was right for A. Even before they met, G's father had died. During his last year of his life G went to the hospice every day to see his dad. - My last birthday was a bit of shamble. I invited a million people and only 5 people came. 5 important people. As the evening unwinded G had to go to another party and he said I could come along. (I was dressed up for a party) A was tired and went home. At the restaurant with his friends we all ordered our meals. Once the food arrived, one of the others girls dishes was wrong. He offered to swap his food with her's. That kind of kindness is not seen all that often. I knew then that he was a keeper. ~ a lot of my friends have chosen to be with people that that I'm just not sure of. My gut is unsure. - I'm sure about G]
I'm jumping around a lot, need to make this speedy as I've got to get up and head out soon. I'm going to walk to Temple Mount as the sun rises.
The group of wedding guests so far are so diverse. Diversity is so amazing, we need to embrace it more and stop being fearful of the unknown. The party so far contains guests who's home country are; Canada, Romania, Brazil, Poland, United Kingdom. As well as more diversity when it comes to our skin colour and sexual orientation and religion. There a black girl, and a Muslim gay guy too. The world is full of so much, so let's mix it up.
In less that 2 hours I will visit a historic sight that millions have fought over for centuries. All 3 large faiths believe bit is theirs. - the answer is, everything.... is everyone's.
Peace out
L xx
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
The adventure begins
So I'm starting this entry on the flight to Israel.
The next 9 days are are going to be full on and a whole lot of fun.
So far one wedding guest has not made it on the flight. She didn't do her online check in with the budget airline and the flight was over booked. Hopefully she'll be on a later flight today.
This morning I took a cab to A's mother in law 'S'. She's got a big heart ❤️ and a big mouth. I'm sure she won't mind me saying that. She can talk for England. I was struggling to even stay awake at 3:30 am when I hadn't even slept, while she was yapping away. Despite being sleep deprived, I find humans so interesting and fascinating. This might have to do with awareness of myself and my own thoughts. S is a worrier and she worries to a whole new level. She lets small things wind her up and can get worked up very quickly. The taxi to the airport was late, and she was not at all pleased. I don't know her that well and it's rude for me to tell her what to do, so I just listen and support.
Back to people watching (my past time)
I'm now with A's parents as we are about to go through immigration and her mom is having a go at her dad for loosing the kindle. She's not yelling at him but is clearly upset and saying, 'I know better than to give you things, you always loose my stuff'. (She gave the kindle to her son to hold.) When she did realise she apologised to her husband, and was genuinely sorry. That's a start for sure, more people must say sorry and mean it.
I wonder what I'll be like, when I grow up (yes I know, I'm grown). I like to think I'll be chill. I'm getting there through lots of conscious thoughts. I really try hard to not sweat the small stuff. I succeed most of the time.
I still want to kill my housemates for how badly they wash dishes, but with very very deep breaths. I rewash the very dirty dishes and move on.
I use to tell myself that all the bad stuff is in the past and now it's smooth sailing, I'm pretty damn sure I'm right. The amount of 'life stuff' that I have lived though and experienced is vast. I think because there has been so much, I deal with new things very quickly. Almost anything will come up and it instantly goes straight on the scale of life:
Does this really matter or not?
And guess what folks, the answer to most things is: It's doesn't matter.
It's just a tiny part of the picture. Focus on the big picture. Who cares if some of the megapixels of our life's image is a bit fucked. If you just stand back and have a look at the picture, everything is as it should be. You don't even have to squint.
I'm going to end this, with one of my favourite old school quotes. 'There's no point in crying over spilled milk'
The next 9 days are are going to be full on and a whole lot of fun.
So far one wedding guest has not made it on the flight. She didn't do her online check in with the budget airline and the flight was over booked. Hopefully she'll be on a later flight today.
This morning I took a cab to A's mother in law 'S'. She's got a big heart ❤️ and a big mouth. I'm sure she won't mind me saying that. She can talk for England. I was struggling to even stay awake at 3:30 am when I hadn't even slept, while she was yapping away. Despite being sleep deprived, I find humans so interesting and fascinating. This might have to do with awareness of myself and my own thoughts. S is a worrier and she worries to a whole new level. She lets small things wind her up and can get worked up very quickly. The taxi to the airport was late, and she was not at all pleased. I don't know her that well and it's rude for me to tell her what to do, so I just listen and support.
Back to people watching (my past time)
I'm now with A's parents as we are about to go through immigration and her mom is having a go at her dad for loosing the kindle. She's not yelling at him but is clearly upset and saying, 'I know better than to give you things, you always loose my stuff'. (She gave the kindle to her son to hold.) When she did realise she apologised to her husband, and was genuinely sorry. That's a start for sure, more people must say sorry and mean it.
I wonder what I'll be like, when I grow up (yes I know, I'm grown). I like to think I'll be chill. I'm getting there through lots of conscious thoughts. I really try hard to not sweat the small stuff. I succeed most of the time.
I still want to kill my housemates for how badly they wash dishes, but with very very deep breaths. I rewash the very dirty dishes and move on.
I use to tell myself that all the bad stuff is in the past and now it's smooth sailing, I'm pretty damn sure I'm right. The amount of 'life stuff' that I have lived though and experienced is vast. I think because there has been so much, I deal with new things very quickly. Almost anything will come up and it instantly goes straight on the scale of life:
Does this really matter or not?
And guess what folks, the answer to most things is: It's doesn't matter.
It's just a tiny part of the picture. Focus on the big picture. Who cares if some of the megapixels of our life's image is a bit fucked. If you just stand back and have a look at the picture, everything is as it should be. You don't even have to squint.
I'm going to end this, with one of my favourite old school quotes. 'There's no point in crying over spilled milk'
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