Nothing Happens When You Hide...

During the first part of my commute this morning (ie. the bus) I opened emails to find my daily snippet from Seven Sentences waiting to inspire me. Today's headline - to not dream is to not live - seemed a little clichéd at first but as I read on, my interest grew:

"...it's no fun to hide...it's important to realize no one is actually looking for you."

This was quite a grounding statement to be hit with at 6.45am. And then there was this:

 

Nothing happens when you hide...the world is simply getting older."

Being on the cusp of birthday number 44, that rang very true. But what rang even truer was this:

"Waiting to be discovered is essentially a form of hiding. Just be you, celebrate who you are and take authentic risks every day."

This didn't resonate just because my big day's tomorrow (and regular Gidday-ers know how I love to celebrate).

You see, I have been offered an exciting promotion and it was all announced at work on Monday. The congratulations have been a mix of 'well done', 'I'm happy for you', 'you'll be great at it' and 'you deserve it', a wonderful acknowledgement of my last two and a half years in my role. I feel proud and moved, thrilled and humbled by it all.

Then I received an email that reminded me of something else. The journey.

I sat at my desk in the quiet of the early morning office and as I read each of the words, I remembered the 'dream' of working overseas, a dream that I had forgotten I had ever declared. But this someone reminded me that so long ago I had shared it and through all of life's ups and downs, the highs and lows, joys and sorrows, here I was living the 'dream'. That with hard work and a bit of risk-taking, I had somehow charted my course and ended up where I'd dreamt I would.

And as my eyes filled, I remembered something else.

That there's no hiding from the people who love and know you best. And that is a remarkable thing.

Because when you hide, love doesn't happen either.



Ye Olde Bucket List...Part Two

With the previous night's Shakespearean sortie under my belt, on Sunday I added another satisfied tick to Ye Olde Bucket List by visiting Lord's.

Lord's is the home of cricket. It's located in North London and as my local bus goes right by on its way down to Victoria Station, you can get a glimpse of the Nursery Ground over the wall. So it was with much anticipation I arrived at the gates with friend The Umpire to see Australia versus England in the second Ashes test.

With England leading by about 500 runs from the first three days of play (for those of you who don't know your cricket, test matches can go for five days), I had little hope of an Aussie victory but the Ashes series is an age-old contest between our two nations and when in Rome London, Lord's is what one must do.

Australia got an absolute shellacking. No surprise there given recent performances. But it was a great day. Lots of sporting banter, a cricket umpire as a companion (to answer all my inane cricketing questions), some really fabulous weather and a goodly selection of vittels to keep us sustained: what more could a person want?

Oh yeah. A few more runs on the board.

Here are a few pics of my Big Cricket Day Out.

The first one's of yours truly, mainly to prove not only that I was there but also to demonstrate that England is actually having a Summer (note the blue sky behind the hat and sunglasses).



Fans had travelled from across the world to stand sit shoulder to shoulder and support their team.

The emergence of the players at 11am...England was STILL batting.

This is the Grace Gate, the official players entrance. It's Grade II heritage listed - that happens a lot in London.

And this is the Big Vacuum Cleaner, ready to suck up all the rubbish it could find. Just kidding. It's actually the media centre.

And in true form, the banter was everywhere. Even on the back of the dunny toilet door.

 

And that, my dear Gidday-ers, was Lord's and another tick made on Ye Olde Bucket List.


Speaking of ticking things off, never fear peeps. I'm still ticking off the days until the very fabulous  birthday celebration of yours truly. Just 7 sleeps to go...

Ye Olde Bucket List...Part One

It's been a busy few days since my last post and I've been having a rather splendid time enjoying some of what the English do best...namely Shakespeare and sporting banter. So you lucky, lucky Gidday-ers get two posts.

I know. Two for the price of one. That's got to be an offer you can't possibly refuse.

Macbeth came first.

To provide a little context for this rather tragic inclusion on ye olde bucket list, all of that 'double double toil and trouble' stuff has been running around in my head since High School when I studied the play as part of the English curriculum in Year 11 and then revisited it in Year 12 English Literature.

And the fun didn't stop there. Lo and behold, Macbeth was also the Shakespearean text in my first semester of literature at University. That's three times in three years. The Merchant of Venice the following term was a breath of fresh air.

Anyway I've never actually seen the play. Ever. Not even a movie adaptation.

So on Saturday night I settled into my seat at The Phoenix Cinema (my lovely local) and watched a live transmission from the Manchester International Festival. Kenneth Branagh co-directed (with Rob Ashford) and took the leading role with Alex Kingston (of ER fame) as Macbeth's lady wife by his side.

The set wasn't a theatre but a deconsecrated church so the live audience sat either side of the central aisle and watched the action unfold...on the grassy verge in the middle. The rains came down, battles were won and lost, murder most foul committed and vengeance served in the end.

It was absolutely brilliant, Branagh was breath-taking...

...and Macbeth finally got ticked off the bucket list.

But the weekend wasn't yet over.

Tomorrow I'll let you know what else got ticked off.

The World's Coolest Bottle Opener...

So the big birthday bonanza is on and this year, first card past the post(box) is from Mum.

She's gone for a very practical design this year. Knowing how much I like a vino or two, she's come up with something I've actually been looking for all my life - the perfect bottle opener.

It's a mix of 'easy on the eye' and getting the job done. Style meets pragmatism if you will. 

It's not quite handbag-sized but I could see myself taking it everywhere.

(Although popping my cork on a whim may not be entirely appropriate in every situation.)

Oh what's that?  You'd like to see it?

Well if you must...

Only 13 sleeps to go peeps...NOW I'm excited...