Take a moment and ask yourself when you last tried something completely new. Last year I started learning Japanese, and realised it was the first brand new skill I had tried since I was about 14. The last 22 years had been about just developing skills I already had. Who knows what I may be good at? Who knows what any of us are good or bad at unless we try? And how do you know what you love if you have never tried it?
You will never make the memorable discoveries unless you are will to stick your neck out from time to time. Raise your head above the parapet and see what is going on outside of your comfort zone.
Why are we reluctant to step out from the crowd?
I think we would all agree with the above quote.
So what forms our original attitudes and how can we change them?
There is nothing like a bit of travel to shake it all up, blow out the cobwebs and reinspire you. Sometimes – even when you are doing what you love – you get caught up in the details of making things happen, and the days can sometimes start to merge into one another. Heading out to discover news things, people, places, food and adventures, with your phone off and your exploring hat on can be brilliant.
It was my fourth trip to Paris but the first time I have actually seen the Eiffel Tower up close – wow, what a triumph of engineering. It is so strong but beautiful
And so to Paris… we just spent a long weekend in the French capital – feel so fortunate that is is just over an hour away by plane – and after four days of walking, croissants, practicing bad French and chats in romantic cafes we feel refreshed and ready to roll! I thought you’d like to see a few pics from the windy lanes and dreamy architecture we discovered along the way…
Doesn’t this guy look like he is about to burst into song?!
The most enormous millefeuille I have ever seen
How about you? Have you taken yourself on a little discovery adventure recently? Where did you go? What did you discover? We’d love to hear about it!
The discovery that it is Okay to make mistakes is an enlightening moment that will allow you to break free. The world will keep turning and the sun will keep rising. Some mistakes even end up with better results than the original planned event!
What do you think?
Six years ago, without even knowing it, I was completely lost. My career was going OK, but I had stopped dreaming and I had little to no ambition. I seemed to live only for weekends with the boys and a few holidays dotted throughout the year. Looking back I can see that I had everything the wrong way round.
Then a girl walked into my life and changed everything. Beth was to become my saviour, my purpose and my direction. It sounds dramatic but it is true. She reignited my passion for life. Little did I know it right then, but life was about to get a whole lot more interesting!
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide
I have written on this blog before about our sabbatical in Japan last year. The decision to go was certainly one, which became the catalyst for huge change and even greater self-discovery.
We primarily found ourselves in Japan because Beth loves the place, the culture, the language and the people. And she is the most important thing in my life so not to share this passion would have been like not acknowledging a part of her.
My initial motivation for going had been to share in this love, to experience all the things she held close to her heart and hopefully, somewhere along the line, pick up a bit of the lingo. I needed to communicate with her friends better than just politely smiling and nodding my head. And to be honest, I couldn’t wait for six months off work.
But in the end it became something much more significant than that. The extended time away from home and work also became an opportunity to ask myself a lot of questions that I had never dared ask before.
I remember sitting on the banks of the Kamogawa River and taking my notebook out of my very masculine bicycle basket. I opened it up and then just sat there, pencil primed for what seemed like an eternity until I started to write. I think the pause was more to do with being flooded with ideas. It took a while to filter through the waterfall of cascading thoughts and focus on the moment. What was on my mind now? This is what I wrote:
Who am I, Where am I
When I was 12, is this how I imagined it would be at 35?
No, not unless astronauts trained in Kyoto!
I then started to write down as many honest thoughts regarding myself as I could bear to admit:
“Sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don’t have to be anything else.” – Unknown
Without doubt I am blessed with great family and friends. But there is more to it than that. I needed to answer the questions…
These are deceptively simple questions and I was really struggling to answer them.
My thoughts went automatically to sport and more specifically football (soccer), but what about ME? How was I going to make myself feel proud?
I decided to look back to my earlier childhood before sport became all encompassing. This took many chats, coffees, beers, runs, bike rides and lots of listening to music. It is amazing what can provoke memories and what you actually forgot you used to do. Isn’t it strange that to move forwards more often than not you have to look backwards?
“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.” – Jerry Gillies
I decided to start by getting myself really fit and healthy. This was an aspect of my life that has always been a form of salvation for me. But ever since I turned 30 I had been in denial. My body doesn’t respond and recover as fast as it did in my 20s and I soon realized I needed to sacrifice a little bit more than I used to in this quest. I definitely struggle to enjoy everything around me if I do not feel good in myself. This was actually my first recognition of who I am as an individual. And getting fit again was an important first step on the road to doing what I love.
How about you? Who are you? Where you thought you would be? Have you thought about this lately? It would be great to hear about your journey too.
Until next time…
Mr K
You just know when you have found it don’t you?! I don’t know what you think but everyone has an extra spring in their step when you are doing something that feels so right.
Honeymoons tend to be very private, but we ended ours with a huge group of people – two of our very favourite Japanese people, along with half of their company workers!
On the London Eye with Kyoko and Adachi
Kyoko and Adachi are like second family to me, having let me stay in their house rent free for a year when I lived in the northern Japanese city of Yamagata back in my twenties. They are jazz musicians who love a good party, and frequently opened their doors to the various waifs and strays I brought home (i.e. most of the foreigners who lived in Yamagata) – their house became known as the ‘Adachi Hospital for Homesick Foreigners’ as there was always a cold beer and warm welcome for anyone who visited. (You can read about the crazy way I met them in this post). They also looked after us in the first couple of weeks of our sabbatical in Japan last year.
Adachi travelled the world in his youth and lived in Notting Hill way before it was hip, and Kyoko has been heavily inspired by western music as a Jazz singer, but they had never been to England together. I always promised that of course I would look after them if they ever came to visit, so when they decided to take their team to Europe to celebrate a pivotal birthday for their company, I pursuaded them to give up their idea of going to Italy and come to England instead. But that was before we got engaged. The irony was, they then booked their flights, and it ended up being a week after our wedding (which we would have loved them to come to), and WE were in Italy for our honeymoon! So we decided to spent the last couple of days of our holiday in a lovely London hotel exploring with them instead, and it was such fun.
Charlotte Street Hotel
We booked ourselves into the gorgeous Charlotte Street Hotel in Soho. It is really expensive so we had just taken a simple room, but when we got their they said that as a honeymoon gift they had upgraded us to their loft suite – an apartment overlooking London charged out at £1,000 a night! It was so fabulous we didn’t want to leave, but headed out onto the streets of London to see the sights with our visiting friends.
The living room of our loft apartment (complete with our own private lift!)
We have both been to London countless times, but usually to see friends or for work – rarely as a tourist. It was so much fun to see London through the eyes of our friends – the London Eye, live music on the banks of the Thames, the British Museum, Big Ben, afternoon tea in a posh hotel, sunday lunch in an old English pub etc. We also surprised them with three of our English friends who had stayed at their house over the years turning up for lunch and dinner!
Here are a few happy snapshots:
This time with old friends was actually the perfect way to end our honeymoon and start the rest of our married lives. Thank you so much to our friends and families who contributed to our honeymoon and make it so special.
You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home
As our honeymoon drew to a close we reflected on the perfect week of Italian food, wine and hospitality, long walks and longer chats, and a lifetime of adventures ahead of us. It was wonderful to have that time to also reflect on our brilliant wedding and think about how grateful we are for the family and friends who made it so special. (All the wedding details coming very soon!)
Before we left Italy we had one last stop. Our flight left from Pisa, so we couldn’t not see the Leaning Tower. Excuse the cheesy touristy posed picture – it couldn’t be helped!
It really is quite an extraordinary sight, and we found it sat alongside a beautiful church with grassy grounds covered in lazy picnickers soaking up the sun. There was nothing for it but to get a delicious Italian ice cream and join them…
You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home
And the honeymoon story continues… While at Borgo Santo Pietro we couldn’t help but indulge ourselves in a private pasta cookery class with the hotel’s Executive Chef. It was amaaaaazing. I just felt so happy in that kitchen, and one of the things that we made (the fresh tortellini stuffed with caramelised pear on a tarragon pesto) was possibly the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. Must buy a pasta machine…
Heaven on a plate – fresh tortellini stuffed with caramelised pear on a tarragon pesto
You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home