A portfolio of an extraordinary year

This post was triggered by a conversation I recently had. Somebody asked me: “Well it’s great you had a good time and you feel well now, but how are you going to explain a year long gap in your CV?”. I felt for a second I might be in trouble. But then, a new girl in me stood up against the looming fear: “You bet I will explain it! How would you explain plugging in your phone to charge it?! Would you rather start a long and important conversation with your battery on 2% or when it’s fully charged?”

So here it is. A portfolio of an extraordinary year, or how I recovered a depleted battery of mine.

Most importantly, I discovered love in a new form. Big love. A love that is in, and out, and connects us all. A quiet shouting stillness drumming golden lights of silence.

I was moved, and I moved.

Britain. South of Crete. Serbia. South of Mexico. Britain. Serbia. Britain. South of Crete. Serbia…

De-cluttered my space. Than got rid of it. Cried.

Rented a 50 ft² storage and carried loads of boxes up and down.

Asked for – and gratefully accepted – help from my friends, when offered. Learned not to expect it. Tried to give it whenever I could.

Crossed more than 40.000 km or 24.854 miles.

Visited 22 places on two continents and slept in 33 rooms.

Checked-in at 10 airports.

Spent 5 months at the seaside. And a few days in the mountains. Could have done better with the mountains.

Met new friends. And some old friends.

Met strangers who knew me from the beginning of the world.

Spent some time with my parents.

Ate loads of dark chocolate and sunshine — probably more than 3kg of chocolate in one year and more than 250 sunny days!

Also ate loads of avocados, tomatoes, rice, lentils and nopales. And many other yummy things. Drank lots of coconut, lime and lemon water. Had several gorgeous tejates, and tried some raki and mezcal too.

Didn’t eat enough of Sfakian Pie. But had some amazing vegan ice-creams and cakes.

Danced salsa, body wave, belly dance, pentozalis and sousta.

Sang bajans and karaoke.

Learned to face my fears and dared to touch them.

Swam in two oceans, one sea and two lakes.

Dived into water with my eyes open. Finally.

Hugged a lot. Walked barefooted.

Set for ten days in a silent meditation. Ten days with no electronic devices, no talking and no mirrors! A total plug-in to everything that really matters. This was crucial.

Started sleeping well again and waking up without the alarm.

Fell in love with my mornings. And evenings. And mid-days. And myself.

Practiced Hatha Yoga. Loads of it. Wherever I could and whenever I could. With wonderful teachers and on my own.

Completed a course on Yoga Philosophy, and several amazing Yoga workshops.

Continued using homeopathy. Wish I could start studying it too.

Watched sunrise and sunset, and waves and calm waters, again and again.

Walked a lot. A LOT. Did some hiking too.

Traveled in small boats. Met sea turtles, dolphins and whales.

Had two iguanas and one cockroach as my friendly neighbours, along with my lovely human neighbours.

Wrote daily notes in my diary and took loads of photos.

Wrote and submitted an abstract for a conference paper, on the space of access and Bourdieu. The stuff good enough to be accepted with an invitation for oral presentation at an international conference. But I forgot one thing. I was not working anymore, so there was no funding for me to go and present it. So I declined my participation and worked as a karma yogi instead (cleaning work included).

Started learning Spanish, and a little bit of Greek.

Listened to more Rumi’s poems than ever in my life.

Spent all my money, and happily survived.

Healed a wound. Learned to love my scars.

Felt again so small and so safe.

Remembered how not to rush and how to smile often.

Started to see beauty everywhere. Particularly in people’s eyes. Whole universe in each.

Started writing this blog and publishing photos.

[to be continued, maybe…]

And now I can even dig out that old CV of mine and give it a new shine!

This week’s book inspiration: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.

Please note that all photos on this blog belong to my personal collection with all rights reserved. If you are interested in licensing some of them, please get in touch.