october

i used to think that if i had all the right gear – enamelware, hunter wellies (well, i never actually had those), the right brand of handbag and overcoat, shelves overflowing with all the right kids of books, fantastic travel stories (ok, i do have a few of those), an instagram account that everyone wanted to follow, a blog with loads of commenters, a life well-lived in a vibrant city, that i would have it made. thing is, in nz, nobody i want to hang out with gives a shit what labels i wear and they’ve never even heard of the company that makes my handbag. so what was it all for? yeah. nothing. so i threw out all the toast catalogues and sold my kinfolk magazines. because i don’t need them and because they don’t make me feel good. this realisation comes with liberation – more clearing out of stuff i thought was necessary to enhance my life that really just took up physical and emotional space. the less stuff i have, the easier it is for me to appreciate exactly what i do have – a really amazing life. and when i spend less time trying to be like you and more time simply being myself, that is where my truest, and kindest, moving loving and peaceful life is.

so much of life on the internet is displayed through filters (others, as well as my own), i wonder how much of another being i can truly get to know this way. enough, I suppose, to be able to tell me if I want to get to know someone a little more so I can then reach out and say hello.

i never understood running until being introduced to the trails here. now i can’t imagine my life without early sunday morning runs that can last up to four hours and include beaches, stairs, rope climbs and hilltops with stunning views.

brisbane: the hum of thousands of air conditioning units, street sweepers and boy racers at 2am. no thanks. I am definitely not a city girl. i like the island life we have chosen for ourselves.

the conversation with my sister that starts: “just after it flooded here we found a snake curled up in the BBQ” and I think to myself “a whole lotta nope” with regards to living in Australia.

Ways to charm me: edible flower bunches for sale