GRATITUDE + CONSCIOUS LIVING Page 18 of 22

Engagement story

Engagement story ENG23

A month ago today I got engaged and have been beaming ever since. Many of you asked for more details of the engagement, so here you go!

Engagement story eng2

We began the day (my birthday) with a train ride across the beautiful Hozukyo Gorge. These carp-shaped koinobori flags are hung out to celebrate Children’s Day. (Excuse the blur – the train was moving!)

Engagement story ENG3

Engagement story eng5

And then for a stroll through the bamboo forest of Arashiyama (‘Storm Mountain’)…

Engagement story ENG10

Engagement story eng13

Engagement story ENG12

Totally oblivious to what was coming, I was happily snapping away with my camera. If I look back at those photos now, my man looks a little nervous… We found a gorgeous Japanese garden built lovingly over 30 years by a film star from the fifties, designed to offer a different view at every turn.

Engagement story ENG7

Engagement story ENG8

 Engagement story eng14

Engagement story eng15

Engagement story eng16

Engagement story ENG17

Engagement story ENG18

As we were walking through the lush greenery, my man was telling me a story. And then suddenly in it he talked about asking a ‘very important question’. Then there was silence. I had been taking photos ahead of him, and turned around to find him on one knee, asking if I would marry him! (See here)

Engagement story eng21

It was all so perfect. After lots of crying and laughing we went to a little tea house in the corner of the garden for green tea and cake, and started planning the rest of our lives together…

Engagement story eng25

Engagement story eng26

Engagement story eng27

Engagement story ENG28

The ring!

Beth - engagement ring

And here it is… my lovely engagement ring!

My man decided to let me choose which one I loved the most, and we got it made here in Kyoto.

I think it is just perfect and can’t stop looking at it.

Seven sparkly diamonds!

What do you think?

Role reversal

Role reversal IMG 2682

In the months leading up to our trip away I was working like a crazy thing. 14-18 hour days, and weekends, trying to get everything done before we moved, not to mention packing up the house. At that time my man really took care of me, cooking all our meals, doing most of the cleaning, running me hot baths, giving me foot massages and making me turn my computer off if it got past midnight.

Now we are here in Japan, there has been a complete role reversal – of course he still looks after me in his lovely way, but especially these first few weeks it has been up to me to pay bills, order food in restaurants, read maps etc, simply because everything is in Japanese. He is picking up the language at an astonishing rate, but it has been a very new experience these first few weeks for me to be the one who sorts everything out. I want him to learn quickly and get his independence, but I kind of like being able to help him this way…

The 1000-gated shrine

The 100 gate shrine

I decided to take my man on a magical mystery tour to introduce him to some of Kyoto’s most famous sites. Despite being a tourist myself I really don’t like touristy places, but most places that have a lot of tourists are swamped for a good reason, and Fushimi Inari is no different. We opted to go on a weekday, when everyone else was at work, and had most of the mountainside to ourselves.

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2848

Fushimi Inari is quite an extraordinary place. A few miles south of Kyoto, it is home to over 1000 red torii shrine gates, which weave around the mountainside.

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2844

‘Inari’ is the name of the god of rice, a diet staple and fundamental part of Japanese life. There are thousands of Inari shrines across the country but the one at Fushimi is the most famous.

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2802

It was founded twelve centuries ago, and remains an active part of the community. Nearly every single one of the 1000+ cinnabar red shrine gates are ‘sponsored’ by local businesses.

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2846

But when a company’s name is written in beautiful flowing kanji lettering, it somehow doesn’t feel commercial at all. Each of them offer prayers for prosperity – and some of them pay as much as $150,000 for the privilege!

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2977

I visited with my parents many years ago and we purchased a tiny red model gate from the shrine shop and hid it in the forest, off the mountain path.

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2871

We searched for it but couldn’t find it this time round – I like to think that a cheeky wild monkey moved it and uses it as the entrance to his little house in the trees…

The 1000-gated shrine IMG 2927

Temple wandering

Temple

Some people who visit Japan complain of being ‘templed out’ – where they get fed up of visiting temple after temple (as there are so many!). But not me.

Temple wandering honenin

I could spend days wandering temple grounds, inhaling the scent of cedar, slowing down to listen to the splash of a waterfall onto ancient rocks, sitting in the shadow of a majestic wooden structure, sketching the bamboo in the temple garden and listening for the haunting sound of a bell or gong.

Temple wandering IMG 2572

These two temples have a special place in my heart. Honen-in (above) is tucked away down a narrow path just a stone’s throw from the famous Ginkakuji. While its neighbour heaves with tourists and picture-snapping school children, Honen-in always seems empty but inviting. Close to the forest it offers welcome shade in the heat of the day, and a delicious calm away from the crowds.

Temple wandering IMG 26491

Anraku-ji (above and below) is where I stumbled across a wonderful lady who taught me ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and became like a second mother to me when I was a wide-eyed student here more than 15 years ago. But that’s a story for another day…

Temple wandering IMG 2656

Wish you were here…

***

Temple wandering

I’m on a big adventure in Japan right now. If you fancy an adventure of your own why not join me for the Do What You Love e-course? Shake things up, expand your comfort zone, nurture your playful spirit and feed your creative soul. Identify your passion and make it a greater part of your every day life! Find out more and register here.

Gratitude and happiness

Gratitude and happiness thank you1

The outpouring of congratulatory messages in response to our happy news has quite taken my breath away.

Thank you so much – I can’t tell you how much it means.

Still floating on a happy cloud over here…

 

We’re engaged! I’m going to get MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're engaged! I'm going to get MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! engaged1

On my 35th birthday, in the quiet of a beautiful Japanese garden he went down on one knee.

He asked me to marry him.

And I said YES!!! (And cried, and danced, and laughed…)

So so so happy. Best birthday present EVER.

I am engaged to the most precious wonderful man and I can’t quite believe it…

We're engaged! I'm going to get MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! engaged2

Am I really turning 35?

It’s my birthday tomorrow. I’ll be 35. That rounds up to 40! It’s half way to 70! But what does it mean anyway? It’s just a number, right? On my ‘big’ birthdays (the ones ending in ‘0’ or ‘5’) I like to look back over my life so far and think about all the happiest moments of each year. So much has changed since the last time I did this at 30 (when I spent my birthday lying in a hammock next to the sea drinking gin & tonics in a tiny hotel north of Mumbai, India, before going for curry and champagne with friends!)

Since then I have fallen in love, started two businesses, changed industries, moved house four times, and visited countries in every corner of the world.  They have been years lived at a fast pace, always on the move, always in search of adventure, knowledge and beauty.

As I sit here in Kyoto, perhaps my favourite city in the world, on the eve of my 35th birthday, I am trying to decide how I would like the next five years to be. I have no idea what path I will follow, or what will unfold, but I know I want to slow down a little, breathe more deeply, sit up and enjoy the view. I wonder what is in store…

Let’s see, shall we? Cheers!

*** Am I really turning 35?

I’m on a big adventure in Japan right now. If you fancy an adventure of your own why not join me for the Do What You Love e-course? Shake things up, expand your comfort zone, nurture your playful spirit and feed your creative soul. Identify your passion and make it a greater part of your every day life! Find out more and register here. But hurry, class starts soon!

Old friends

Old friends yg1

Kyoko and Adachi in the jazz studio in their home – happy times!

When travelling in rural northern Japan we stayed a few days with some very old friends of mine. I still can’t quite believe how I met them. Let me explain…

Some 15 years ago, when I arrived in this remote snowy place, I had temporary accommodation for a couple of weeks but no place to stay after that. I had a job working as an interpreter for the local government, and the colleague who sat next to me turned out to be something of a fascinating enigma. Staid government worker by day, semi-pro jazz drummer by night (and racing driver in his early years!), he had invited me to one of his live gigs after work one day, but I declined, having already made plans to meet the person whose floor I was temporarily sleeping on.

After work I headed to the station to catch my train ‘home’ but missed it by a couple of minutes, and there was not another one for an hour. Hearing smooth jazz wafting over from a nearby café like steam off coffee on a cold day, I wandered over to wait it out in 1920s America. It was the cafe where my colleague was playing.

I was stood at the bar soaking up the atmosphere when the lead singer of the jazz band took a break and came over to get a drink. Her name was Kyoko, and she was a tiny ball of energy, with crazy curly hair like no Japanese woman I had ever seen, with kind eyes and an infectious smile. We got talking and within ten minutes she said “why don’t you come and live with me and my husband (Adachi, the bass player)?” Well, I thought, why not?

And so began an incredible adventure, living rent-free with this wonderful couple, in their house with a jazz studio and cocktail bar where we would host parties for all the foreigners within 50 miles, entertain jamming sessions twice a week and I would wake up on a Sunday to the sound of the grand piano. Some fifteen years later Kyoko and Adachi are still like family to me, they still play jazz, pass beers round and open their sliding doors to new friends with an openness which is quite astounding.

Two of the most generous souls I know.  I wish you could meet them.

Heading north

Heading north yamadera

About 400 years ago Matsuo Basho, the father of Japanese haiku, walked the long road north to Yamagata, a beautiful snowy part of rural Japan. When there he wrote this famous poem:

Shizukasa ya · Iwa ni shimiiru · Semi no koe

Silence · Penetrating the rocks · The cry of the cicada

It is a place I spent a happy year a decade ago, skiing, stumbling over the strong dialect, making friends, laughing and presenting my on TV show! We headed back to visit old friends and take in some of the lovely countryside… I will share some snippets over the coming days, before introducing you to our new home of Kyoto. Pop back tomorrow for a glimpse into this little known area of Japan…