So soon!

This time tomorrow there will be a huge mess in the bedroom as I will be trying to pack my suitcase... yes, yes, it's the well-deserved spring break coming up - the whole 12 days of freedom, of which 10 I will spend with my family. So on Wednesday evening I'm flying east... Can't hardly wait, I wish I could skip the packing bit and be on the way to the airport already ;)

Those home-comings are always interesting times for me to observe myself... The world around me and my life in it. Whichever way I go, it gives me a little bit of distance and perspective. Where am I now? What has changed, what hasn't? What do I want to do next? Am I happy?

Being at home is like being at the source, back at the beginning of the life journey. Gathering energy, contemplating the present and thinking about the future. And also, remembering the past. Reflecting on time and the transformations it brings. Looking for and holding on to these elements which have remained still. Having such place makes you much stronger and aware...

No way back now!

Okay, so everything is confirmed now... In about two months, with five other crazy people I will jump out of a plane... about 3 km up from the ground... It's a massively scary thing for me (and them) to do, but we want to raise money for a charity, the National Childbirth Trust, and we decided fight with the fear...

So, here's the link to our page, where you can support us and donate any amount for the NTC. There is also an icon on the right side, so it is handy to click whenever you visit me :)

Thank you in advance for any support!!!

http://www.justgiving.com/skydiveforntc

good beginning and good end :)

Friday is always a nice day at work - far better than all the other days of the week :) Today it was especially nice, because J. had her 50th birthday. We decorated her desk with balloons (in secret!) and gave her presents, which she really liked. Oh, fun times...

The evening was good, too. First, my favourite, although for a long time not attended, Body Balance class - after a long break quite spontaneously I decided to come back and revive the habit of Friday evening tai chi and yoga mixture, followed by meditation... I forgot how great it was! I guess I needed a change back then, and now I need to come back :)
Second great thing - something everyone who appreciates and respects friendship would be really happy with. I had an international call - a conversation with a "good old friend", my dear I. with whom I spent a few weeks one summer and haven't seen her since then... and who is far away now, but it never feels this way really. She's always close, I can tell :) Thank you, I. xxx

breakfast

milk + ground linseed + sugar-free musli + bran flakes + blueberries...

Yummy!

Have a nice day :)

In the cave...

Recently I watched the newest document created by Werner Herzog - "Cave of Forgotten Dreams". I guess for many the content might be boring, so I was surprised to see many people in the cinema...
In short, this picture shows what Herzog and his small team were able to see and film when they entered Chauvet cave in the south of France - the cave where very recently, just 17 years ago, a group of explorers discovered paintings made by human beings... The oldest paintings found so far on earth, from about 32 thousand years ago!

The views are amazing, especially that the movie is in 3D. The pictures are accompanied by music and the comments of the archeologists, paleontologists and art historians who spent a lot of time in the cave and outside it trying to understand the meaning of what they saw.

Watching the pictures of running horses or fighting rhinos on the walls of the cave, seeing the handprints of our ancestor (or ancestors) left in the cave thousands of years ago gave me real thrills. Here it was, a mysterious vision of a human being, a sign of his/her knowledge, imagination, beliefs... And knowing that barely anyone can actually enter the cave and most probably I will never be there made me very happy and grateful for creating such an important documentary.

Silence and words

Yes, I admit, there was a big break in writing in here. But I am back. I needed some time in silence, on ever level of my life. That's how it is sometimes, when you have to start all over again. And besides, oh the weather was so beautiful for the last week that I could not stay inside for too long.

I wrote some emails and I got some replies about my studying/research plans. In the end, it will be better if for now it is studying, and I fully agreed with the professor who wrote to me that it would give a good foundation and greater confidence in the future. However, it's another 2.5 years and so much money... But it seems to be the only way leading to the next big step towards one of my dreams. I have a look at the universities and although for a moment I was hesitating, good old OU turned out to be not only the cheaper and more flexible option (but without summer holidays!), but actually the only option - Birkbeck in London doesn't offer my chosen MA programme anymore (losers!;)).

Well, now I just need to open a fund to gather the money for the fees ;)

Fool's Day

1st of April wouldn't be complete without a proper prank. Today when our manager came to the office, he saw something he didn't really expect... High five to all Fool's Day jokers! Let's keep up the good tradition!