You can head on over to the new blog to check it out, and if you like that sort of thing, feel free to bookmark it or leave a comment. I’m trying to make it practical, so adding tips and other resources for stress management and so forth. I am not posting under my real name (because I want to have a ‘free’ place to vent), but you’ll know it’s me.

Oh yes – the design is very basic at this point. Will see about a proper header soon, but for it’s purposes it will do for now.

Mosy on Down to The Quest for Zen

Today, I finally got it done. Behold… tattoo number 10!

Tattoo number 10!

The new tattoo is the Thai character ‘khomut’, which is used to indicate the end of a story. Being a fan of hidden meanings, this appealed to me… after all, I have come to the end of yet another phase in life, and what better way to mark the start of a new phase then a new tattoo? Also, it is a great addiction to my current collection of Thai numerals.

My ink collection is now nicely rounded off to 10. A good even number me thinks! What are the previous 9 you may be wondering? Have a look… (keeping in mind that some of these pics are very old!)

1. Taurus symbol - cos that's what I am!

2. Thai numeral - 5 (my lucky number)

3. Hammerhead - I love sharks, what can I say?

4. Heart - the only big ink I have (with monkeys!)

5. Thai numerals - 1980 (my birth year)

6. Star (my sister got a matching one on her collarbone too)

7. Stars - behind the ear

8. Star (a 30th birthday present from the lovely Chris Mills!)

9. Heart - behind the other ear

An old co-worker may have described my tattoos as being like ‘stickers on a teenage girl’s notebook’, but I love my small scale approach. Each one of those tattoos has a story, and with my new one, there is a sense of linking those stories and all the phases I have been through over the years.

Here’s to the start of a fabulous new year… and a fabulous new tattoo to kick things off to the right start!

P.S. I put this post together on Sunday. It took over an hour to hunt down old pics, but was fun taking a trip down tattoo memory lane!

My shark cage diving experience began at the ungodly hour of 5am. I woke up at 4.30, and was up and waiting outside in time to catch the sun setting over the city. Once the bus arrived, and the rest of the group was collected (including a lovely Brazilian girl and some hungover Brits), we began the long drive out to Gansbaai. When we arrived, we had a safety briefing and then boarded the boat. It was a lot smaller than I expected, and a lot faster too. Soaring over massive waves, we got to the dive site in record time and got into wetsuits. This was a lot harder than you’d think – the wetsuits were damp, my fingers got raw pulling it up and we had to suit up on a rocking boat in hectic currents.

Watch the Shark Cage Diving Video!

Then came the exciting part – getting into the cage. 5 divers went down at a time, armed with masks and weightbelts. To ensure that the sharks weren’t scared off, no scuba was used. When the dive master spotted a shark, he shouted ‘DOWN!’ and we held our breaths to watch the sharks cruise past. There were about 4 or 5 sharks coming past individually every few minutes, and as Great whites are surface feeders, they could be seen from the boat and in the cage.

A few lessons I picked up during the course of the day:

* Sharks are not easy to photograph – they move very fast, and my camera less so
* They are so much more chilled than I imagined – some were curious, but mostly they were rather blaise
* Shark cage diving is quite a workout – yesterday and today I woke up stiff and sore all over
* Great whites are so much more beautiful than you would think – more than any picture could show
* Thank god for on-board camera man – the DVD of the dive captured all the sightings I missed
* Gansbaai loves their sharks – they even have shark Christmas lights!
* Everyone takes something different from the dive – some were doing the tourist things, others were content to view from the boat, and others were shark lovers like me
* I love fast boats - forget that every time… need to go on boats more often
* I can’t understand why people hate on sharks – they are so peaceful and beautiful, not monsters at all!

I got home in the late afternoon – exhausted, salt in my hair, raw patches on my fingers and happiness in my heart. I really can’t sum it up any better than that… it was an experience I will never forget, and hopefully one I will do again. Except maybe next time I will finally finish my PADI scuba course and dive with other sharks, sans cage!

Huge thanks to White Shark Ecoventures for an unforgetable day, and another thanks to the on-board camera dude from 2 Oceans Films. He made an awesome DVD of the shark cage dive – click here to watch!

Oh yes – you didn’t think I would forget about the pictures, did you? As I said, sharks are effing hard to photograph, but I got a few ok-ish pics…

Setting off on a rough, choppy sea

The cage

Shark checking out the cage

Getting a bit closer to the cage

Splashing down after a mini breach

Seagulls hovering around the boat for scraps

Tattoo #9 - the heart

I haven’t been this excitable on a Monday for ages, but it’s been a good one! Despite a lot of work to get through, and not the best sleep I have had lately, I woke up feeling full of beans. Actually, a dude from Absa Life woke me up to offer me a credit card insurance plan, and he soon had me in hysterics going through the various claiming limitations.

A walk down to Kloof Street to do some lunchtime missions with my favourite guy friend was tainted only by Vodacom refusing to let me do my upgrade at the 22 month mark (long story). Woolies missions, laughs at hipsters and tourists in the sunshine and a discussion about Josh Holloway aka Sawyer appearing in Community that fell totally on deaf ears… it was a good break.

When I got back, there was an ambulance outside my block of flats. Soon, two firetrucks, a medic car and a smaller fire truck arrived on the scene. There were medics everwhere, and most people in the area stopped to check out the drama. I still have no idea what happened, but someone in my block was wheeled out on a stretcher. Such drama on a Monday afternoon!

To cap off the rather interesting day, an iBurst issue I had over the weekend was resolved quickly and painlessly. Better still, they bumped up my package (which I had downgraded for some reason a month or two ago) from the 5GB package I had to a 10GB… at the same price.

I’m off to a blogger bash on Thursday, getting the new first Dexter episode soon and I have a brand new tattoo that I got on Friday. Goodbye Serene September, hello Osum October!

Part of what made Spartacus such an awesome show was not just the epic violence and mayhem, but also the character of Sparacus himself. Brave, loyal, heroic and strong, he was the ultimate warrior. When I heard today that lead actor Andy Whitfield had lost his battle to cancer, I couldn’t help thinking that he had done what few manage to achieve – he took his final bow with the role of a lifetime, which will forever entrench his legacy as a hero.

At the same time, the news hit home in another way. You see, the type of cancer that Andy Whitfield had was the same type that my cousin died from. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The irony is that Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most treatable cancers in the world – the Non-hodgkin’s version however, is a very different story.

While I will keep watching Spartacus, despite the new lead, I just don’t see how the show will ever be the same without its gorgeous, blue-eyed hero. RIP Spartacus – your replacement certainly has huge shoes to try and fill.

Spring is finally around the corner, and with a few days left of my much-needed time off, I am finally starting to feel my zen levels lifting. I adore spring – watching the trees start to get their new leaves, the mild weather, rain showers and enjoying the chance to wear bright colours does something to the soul somehow.

For me, the picture above is the best way that I can describe the feeling that washes over me in September. It was taken in 2009 in Piket-Bo-Berg, when my sister was living in what I can only describe as a slice of heaven. Their tiny cottage lay just in front of a glorious meadow, where a path took you into an orchard full of orange, naatjie, lemon, olive and plum trees. Soon, the path led you to a forest, complete with river and small waterfall. To get there, you first had to navigate through the blackberry brambles – thorns and all. Walking down that path, usually with a few cats and the dogs, you would leave all your worries and cares behind. Watching my sister’s dog Cliffie bounding through the meadow, I would always remember how often we lose sight of the important stuff in life – simply being glad to be alive.

Whether you call it zen, or happiness, the path to contentment is one that is constantly changing as we grow. When life gets tough, we veer off that path – sometimes more often than we stay on it. Sometimes the path presents obstacles, other time it’s an easy stroll. But much like that path in Piket-Bo-Berg, which eventually lead to an amazing forest full of waterfalls and beauty, perhaps we forget that the journey along that path is every bit (if not more) important than that final destination.

This spring, and for the rest of the year, I only have one goal. To appreciate the small things, and simply enjoying being alive, in a beautiful city, with great friends and a huge deal to be grateful for each day.

The rest can take care of itself.

T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.

On Monday last week, my maternal grandmother passed away. She was very old, and had been sick for a few weeks. She went peacefully and quietly, with my mother and her sister by her side. It was not the type of death that I have had experience with – no shocks, no pain, no accident, murder or unfair illness. There was no anger, or fear. She simply slipped away, in the most natural way of finishing this life. The cycle had come full circle, with a clear beginning and final ending. It has still been sad, but there is such comfort in knowing that that cycle had given her a good, long life and that it was all part of a bigger picture.

When I look at my mother, and I remember my grandmother, I can see how much of a legacy she has left. Her strength, compassion, respect for all living things, sense of humour, work ethic, kindness and humility have been passed down to my mother, and those are the qualities that I want to be passed down to me, to pass down to my children when that time comes.

At the service last Thursday, one of the hymns was Amazing Grace. For the first time, the words hit home. If my gran could be summed up in one word, it would be grace. As an Irish Catholic, she would have been happy to hear that hymn. We learn so many things during our journey through life, not all of them good things. If I can keep striving to become someone like my gran and my mother, then all of the hard lessons will help me become someone who can one day leave a legacy as the strong, good women in my family have left.

Ultimately, that is what I think we are put here on this earth to do – learn and teach. My journey has only really begun, and there is still so much I need to learn, but slowly I am starting to feel like I am getting where I ought to be.

My gran might not be here anymore, but she will be with me forever, and that is what life and death is all about.

Eddie Vedder, in a wifebeater... 'cos we could all do with a bit of that!

Vacate is the word
Vengeance has no place on me or her
Cannot find the comfort in this world
Artificial tear
Vessel stabbed, next up, volunteers?
Vulnerable
Wisdom can’t adhere
A truant finds home
And a wish to hold on
But there’s a trapdoor in the sun

~ Pearl Jam – Immortality

So many thoughts this week. I watched Gonzo: the Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on Monday and I thought I finally understood why he decided to take a final exit bow. I watched The Adjustment Bureau on Tuesday night and I began to feel whistful about the chance of destinity being something that can be mastered.

Business cards, and Kindle puchases. 12 hour days and sleepless nights. Tired muscles and rejuvinated energy levels. The need for pink MCC, and a loss of appitite. Exciting new work ventures and a suddenly busy month. Relief, doubt, sadness, excitement, laughter and exhaustion. Spreadsheets, Word documents, social media frenzy.

Half-way through this year, and I feel like someone else. Actually no, I feel like someone I used to be. Maybe it’s all that roundhouse kicking, or maybe it’s the self-actualisation and feeling that maybe, just maybe I can relax a bit for once.

There’s a scene in Eat Pray Love where they talk about words, and they ask her what hers is – it took her a while and a few adventures to find her word. Through all the growth and challenges of this year, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what my word was either, but I think I almost have it.

I’ve been thinking about Pandora’s Box a lot these past few weeks, in particular about that fragile flutter that was left when all the evils had surged out.

I think that I have found my word… hope.

* I have to wonder why I haven’t gotten a heater yet
* My feature duvet is something I cannot live without
* Comedy nights are something I need to start going to again
* I stockpile socks and cardis in all colours of the rainbow
* Winter sundowners at La Vie are every bit as awesome as they are in summer
* Braais and outdoor house parties require a roaring fire and plenty of layers
* I can’t venture outdoors without a funky winter hat
* Winter fashion makes me love dressing up to go out
* My coat collection continues to grow
* I feel the need for a more invigorating workout (Muaythai, it’s time to come back to you!)
* The city is full of winter tourists, even if they aren’t shirtless
* Waking up in the mornings is a special kind of hell
* Working from home is a blessing I truly appreciate!

Don’t get me wrong – I love winter, and I always have. I was born in May after all. The thunderstorms, smell of fireplaces in the air and the awesome feeling of a hot bubble bath after a long day of work… it just makes me happy for some reason. But still, I am looking forward to spring. Even just to make getting out of bed a bit less difficult!

I am also counting down the days until June ends, for a different reason. It’s been one of the busiest, most stressful months thus far. At the end of it however, there will be a massive shopping session to reward myself for all this hard work.

Can’t friggin wait!

Fave perfume right now - so yummy!

May is almost over, and I’ve just wrapped up all my work for the month. This month has been quite a hectic one on many levels, from turning 31 to crazy work schedules, cold fronts, sunny days, perfume shopping, a few jaunts, hair makeovers and more. It’s also been rather important on another scale, with the advent of some major goal redefining. All in all, a lot to think about from here on out, and if all goes to plan, some huge, awesome changes will be in the works next year.

I am feeling far too lazy to write much today, so to keep it simple, here are a few highlights from this month:

* The Mentalist – with my love for cop shows, I fell hook, line and sinker for this show. And was understandibly gutted when I realised that I still need most of the third season.
* Birthdays – turning 31 was pretty great, and with a lovely day out in Kalk Bay followed by a flat makeover and then a lovely party, it was one of the best birthdays in many years.
* Hair Revamps – I had my first set of highlights done last weekend, and while I still want to go much lighter, I am loving the multi-tone streaks!
* Perfume – this month I got myself some YSL Belle Opium and Narciso Rodriguez Musc Intense EDP. I also got a free teeny bottle of Lanvin Marry Me.
* Jaunts – my social life took a bit of a knock due to my work schedule, but I had some fantastic nights out with plenty of unplanned awesomeness.
* Flat Revamps – I also gave my flat a revamp, with a great colour scheme in the lounge – it’s made my home feel even more like a sacred space for zen boosting.
* Breaking Bad – this month I also discovered Breaking Bad and was blown away by the raw, hectic craziness of this show. Can’t wait to get hold of third season!
* Books – I have also been making time for a bit of reading before bed. My favourite books will be appearing on BeingBrazen.com soon – watch this space!

That’s about all I can think of for now. Heading out to a lunch meeting, and since my schedule is now clear til the new month starts, I am taking the rest of the day off!

Bring on June and a whole lot of new challenges and other such goodness!