do what you love Page 37 of 81

Places & Spaces: Brighton beach on a rainy day

placesandspaces

Yesterday was the first day of rain we have had since we moved to Brighton three weeks ago. The weather has been altogether glorious, and I have loved wandering around in flip flops and summer dresses. But yesterday was one of those blustery, atmospheric, rainy days, which are perfect for jeans, boots and cups of tea.

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Over a decade ago I spent nearly 100 days on a ship going around the world as an interpreter, and two of the lovely girls who shared that adventure with me – Saeko from Japan and Hanna from the Netherlands – came to visit me here in Brighton yesterday.

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Hanna and Saeko

Amid reminiscing about our times on the high seas, catching up on our lives since then and trying to stand upright in the wind, we had a wonderful afternoon. The beach was blissfully empty, all the huts and shops closed, the merry-go-round a little forlorn and lonely, and not an icecream seller in sight.

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The waves were pounding the seashore and hundreds of baby seagulls were trying desperately to fly, many hovering just a metre or so above the beach, the wind too powerful to allow them progress.

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Brighton is a new place for me, and being near the sea was one of our main reasons for coming here. I can tell that this beach is going to become a very special place for us, regardless of the weather, as a place to drink in the sea air, blow away the cobwebs and just wander along observing life.

What a discovery this place is becoming!

How about you? What places and spaces do you have which always blow away the cobwebs and make you feel alive?

Discovering the difference a break makes

Discovering the difference a break makes DWYL BLOG TUNEINCHILLOUT 650X250PX LR

After many hectic months with the wedding, business growth, getting pregnant, moving house, unpacking etc, we decided to take ourselves off for a little ‘babymoon’.

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We went to Tenerife for a week to chill out by the pool and enjoy some glorious sunshine, in the knowledge that with a little one on the way we probably won’t be able to do this again for a while. It was such a good thing to do.

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Sometimes you don’t realise just how knackered you are until you properly stop and switch off. The first couple of days we just slept on sun loungers for hours, reading, taking a dip in the pool every now and then, or wandering down to the rocks by the sea.

But then, come half way through, we started to feel that our brains were clearing, our minds were opening up, and new ideas were emerging. By the end of the week (six novels and a catamaran sail with dolphins, whales and turtles later!) we were buzzing with new ideas, plans, ways to do things differently and a new enthusiasm for everything on the horizon.

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Why don’t you treat yourself to a short break this month to rediscover what fires you up, and clear your mind for new ideas and plans?

Life according to Mr K – Love to Discover (3)

lifeaccordingtomrk

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?

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Our very own MOYO magazine has been viewed by over 1 million people!

We are so excited to share the news that our free design magazine MOYO has been viewed by over 1 MILLION people! As we are busy working behind the scenes on our anniversary issue (due out in late August), we just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped make MOYO – the world’s first magazine dedicated to surface pattern design – such a roaring success! We look forward to bringing you more inspiration, business advice and opportunities to showcase your design work over the coming months. In the meantime, if you have missed any of our previous issues, check them out here:

Moyo Issue 1


Moyo Issue 2
Moyo Issue 3

Moyo Issue 4

Discovering new places… Paris

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.

Paris - Eiffel TowerIt 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…

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Doesn’t this guy look like he is about to burst into song?!

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The most enormous millefeuille I have ever seen

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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!

Thought for the Week (20)

Explore quote

 

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?

Life According To Mr. K – Love to Discover (1)

lifeaccordingtomrk

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

  • 35 years old
  • OK job
  • Great girlfriend (I hadn’t proposed at that point!)
  • Own a bit of property (as well as you can own something with a considerable mortgage attached)
  • A beautiful home
  • Happy? Content?

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:

  •  Years of cruising around in second gear. Always just doing enough (whatever that now meant)
  • Feeding my social laddish side
  • But what about me, what about the boy before the alcohol and girls? What was I doing back then? I remember being interested. I remember asking question after question.
  • Have I changed so much? More importantly do I care?

“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…

  • Who am I?
  • Where am I?

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