Why Turning Pro Must Be a Solo Process

Last Tuesday, as part of MarieTV's Summertime Special by Marie Forleo, I enjoyed the re-run of her interview of seasoned American author Steven Pressfield, back in November 2012, based around his self-published book, Turning Pro.

During the interview, Steven identified the difference between an amateur and a professional, and dispensed a few tips on how to cut it like a pro, using his female wannabe-golfer friend as a fitting example. Although a terrible golfer, she had made the commitment to improve her skill and equipped herself head to toe with all the pro-golfer gear in order to be in a winner's frame of mind, which eventually worked in her favour.

Steven also described how he came to realise one day he just didn't want to be a dilettante anymore and decided to up the ante as a full-fledged writer. The change was cathartic and involved discipline, routine, perseverance and strength of character, which might scare the amateur a mile off! Imagine moving places like Steven did, to live in isolation and spartan accommodation with a cat as sole companion, no distractions, no excuses.

Faced with his own fears and doubts looking him up straight in the eye, devoured by demons and possibly nagged by the appeal and (apparent) security of the comfort zone (the unchallenging 9 to 5 job, the normality of the suburban life, etc.), his focus 'forced' upon his writing and nothing else, letting his inspiration wander constructively and taming the muse onto paper, concentrating on those thoughts and ideas that lead to words that string into sentences that develop the narrative and enrich the tone, no matter how painful, solitary and uncomfortable this new 'pro' lifestyle exercise might be to adjust to. This part of the interview actually captured my interest the most, as someone contemplating the big leap and still tottering on the edge but chickening away as yet not so sure of it!



It is clear to me though that my lifestyle as it currently stands is not compatible with a pro's choice and something needs to give. I currently live at my parents (long story!), and two strongwilled generations try to cohabitate happily... There is a protocole to follow, unspoken rules to abide by, spoken rules to not question and sometimes these just get jarred in. I mean things can go crazy up in my head, and inspiration doesn't strike on cue. It hits me on a sleepless night, but that means I might not be up first thing in the morning after that (discipline not being my forte as yet!), which might be frowned upon.

Besides I might fancy the idea of a heavy punching bag in the garage that I go kick whenever I need to release some tension. I might skip lunch for a brisk walk down the beach to clear the cobwebs, and I might want to play Bullet For My Valentine at full blast when I get back to get those creative juices flowing (Oh yeah, it can get even stranger!) but these are things I can't do at my parents! Oh and I might fancy a dish of fried quinoa and nuts instead of mum's classic Sunday hotpot, and a glass of persimmon juice in lieu of black coffee, and jet off on a whim across the Channel for a few days to see my peeps, but those little liberties are not erm democratically embraced... and I respect that.

Part of Eliza Cerdeiros's Motivational Monday

There is no beating around the bush: turning pro is a solo process, you can't drag in family and friends like it's some picnic down the park. You need thinking time, me-time, a structure that you can navigate around and not impact on others. You need to find yourself, grow into your own, shape and fit into your pro lifestyle, before you can share and become social again. I'll leave the conclusion to Steven Pressfield:

"What we get when we turn pro is we find our power. We find our will and our voice and we find our self-respect. We become who we always were but had, until then, been afraid to embrace and live out."

Inspire Aspire - Let There Be Light!

The cloud with a silver lining is an ode to hope. Celebrated French writer and Literature Nobel Prize Winner Albert Camus said it beautifully: "In the midst of Winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible Summer". 

We all have the metaphorical cross to bear in life, admittedly some crosses being heavier, bulkier than others, with some of us plodding on regardless, while others make a mountain out of a molehill.

(Pict source)

Sooner or later in our lives, we are faced with crossroad dilemmas and pivotal destiny moments. We face setbacks, traumas and delays. Some of us even hit rockbottom: reversal of fortunes, string of 'bad fortune' events, loss of loved ones, illness, war, accidents, detrimental lifestyle choices, etc. But even in our darkest hour, there will be a crack of light coming through - no matter how thin, how faint, how insignificant - for darkness cannot exist without light and light cannot exist without its opposite either. Yin and Yang symbiosis. So there you are, if you are looking for a shred of hope, an ounce of fortune, a reason why, a smile, you have it! Dark is never completely dark - and light is never completely light. In fact, the colour white is made up of all the colours and the same applies to black.

(Pict source)

My message to you, if you are feeling blue, is to acknowledge the pain but don't linger on it. This too shall pass! Yet never give up on hope, never lose faith, stay afloat and never lose sight of the shore. And remember that you need darkness in order to see the stars! Every cloud definitely has a silver lining.

Inspire Aspire - Be True to Romance

As I set about the ambitious subject of love relationships and romance for this article, I literally felt a pain in my heart, as I was trying to figure out how best to approach the subject. So I decided I would start off by dedicating this post to L-O-V-E as I mean it: true, unequivocal, uncomplicated, unadulterated love, the kind of love I do believe in. That's the kind of love that needs to be earned and worked upon, and in just a few pointers I'm going to show you why and how.

Photo by Jana Williams Photography, via Style Me Pretty

I do feel flattered that friends come up to me for advice and guidance regarding all things heart-related. I have become an agony aunt of sorts and I should be none the wiser to follow the clarity of advice I give out, but this of course is a different matter. But there is one thing I preach time and time again to the broken-hearted or disillusioned in love: choose honesty, and stay true to yourself, true to the other party, true to love, true to romance, and you cannot - and will not - go wrong.

You see, I just get confused when friends come up to me with their knickers in a twist so to speak, telling me about how being "friends with benefits" with so-and-so resulted in it going horribly wrong. Or how that gurl/ guy whom they "led on" without reciprocating the sincerity of their feelings has now somehow backfired on them and dented their ego! Man, who are you kidding? Of course someone is going to get hurt in those shady free love arrangements and half-baked sentimental trips, because as much as we know the old adage of "there isn't such a thing as a free meal", the same applies to free love.

Love comes with unspoken boundaries and secret expectations while giving out that grand illusion of freedom... Because the friends with benefits combo carries hidden agendas, and stirs the dark corners of human psychology into stratagems: "We're just together for now cos it's convenient", "I'll stay with him until I find The One", "She will do for the time being and she knows about it", "I just couldn't stay on my own", "He's only a sex partner to me", "I don't love her, I don't even care that much about her anyway", "If he left me tomorrow, I wouldn't bat an eyelid", etc. Huh, what kinda vibe are you sending off to the universe?

'Into the Wild' (2007), feat. Emile Hirsch (pict source)

Now I fully understand that this carefree attitude towards love is sadly a by-product of the throwaway culture we live in, a culture of instant results at any cost: self-gratification, instant pleasure, self-indulgence, where people try to find satisfaction in the moment. Where we have no time to wait, no inclination to see a relationship slowly develop, where we want something without putting much effort into it, and we want it now. No compromise. Friends with benefits implies you have sex and a cuddle with your mate, in that second-best/ something-better-than-nothing mindframe, and no guarantee of love and stability and growth of feeling, because from the moment it starts, any prospect of the relationship evolving is stunted. It is biased and conditional.

However with honesty of heart comes truth of feeling and a chance for a relationship to develop. If there is no relationship in sight, how about learn to (re-)discover who you truly are, and learn to fall in love with yourself? For you cannot expect someone to fall in love with you or you fall in love with them, if you don't love yourself first and foremost. This is the most basic rule that defines success in relationships, and something that the likes of Louise Hay have been drumming into the collective psyche for the last few decades.

Via Pinterest

So then, do yourself a favour and ditch the toxic duos and half-hearted pairings, and take time out of the dating game. Enjoy quality time with yourself, and why not overhaul your whole life: are you happy in your current job, in your town/ village etc? How can you improve certain areas of your life? How about take up a course, how about exploring the possibilities of a gap year? Cultivate happiness, don't make it dependent upon another.

On a more practical level, enjoy and embrace celibacy for a while. Oh and yes I do have first-hand experience of it and there is no shame to be had. This lifestyle choice will give you self-respect, clarity of thought and inner-strength and it will keep you focused on other areas of your life. I don't believe in second bests and subterfuges and alternatives and faking it as far as love is concerned. I just come from a pure heart. Call me naive, old-fashioned and a hopeless romantic, but true love can only be borne out of truth. True love needs solid foundations to thrive. As much as we have the Slow Food movement, how about Slow Love?

Making a Mint and Loving It!

Many of life's little pleasures are derived from nature's own, from growing a garden to foraging, from collecting sea-shells to turning bits of driftwood into pieces of art. And to me, the humble mint just so happens to be one of those little pleasures!

The island of Corsica is particularly blessed when it comes to wild flora. And wild culinary herbs account for that blessing. Let's just name a few: marjoram, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, angelica, rosemary, garlic, onion and dill. On the family land I have been able to source an ever-ready supply of fresh mint. I fill (but don't overfill) a Tupperware tub with a few handfuls of mint that I cut with a pair of secateurs, making sure no roots are pulled. I leave the mint sprigs unwashed inside the tub. Then I pop a clean sheet of kitchen paper on top, seal the lid securely and off it goes in the fridge. Whenever I feel like it, I get a small handful of mint sprigs out, pop them in a cup or teapot, pour boiling water out of the kettle on top and leave to infuse for a few minutes. In this hot weather, I find it extraordinarily refreshing. It is also a great aid to digestion, after a heavy meal, or if feeling bloated.

And this fresh mint has nothing to envy to its cultivated counterparts. It will keep for at least two weeks in the fridge, whereas the shop-bought varieties will quickly wither, go brown and soggy, because they were forcefully grown, (over-)watered and possibly treated with fertilisers. Nature's own is a little fighter for it will have learnt to fend for itself, relying on sparse to zero water supply, and will have developed coarse leaves that retain moisture and diffuse a strong aroma that will make the cultivated varieties pale down in shame!

Maybe in your neck of the woods, there are wild culinary herbs waiting to be discovered or shared with others! If you are unsure, how about getting a wild flora book about your region, or join a local nature society (they tend to organise guided themed country walks), or enrol a local plant expert/ botanist into your adventure - and get your friends/ family/ neighbours to rally round - for the more the merrier! Have fun!

Cooling Down the Heat!

I have a confession to make: I have been on a meltdown. I've been indulging in all things fresh and cool and icy lately. I whipped up a wicked strawberry ice-cream from scratch, earlier in the season, which I served with a homemade warm dark chocolate sauce, the kind that makes you go 'ohhhh!' and 'ahhhh!' and not care if the world ends now!

Introducing the passion fruit gelato from my local café!

My mum made an apricot ice-cream last Sunday that was equally delish! And in between our homemade concoctions, I've had the odd cornetto, and the odd (the odd, haha!) gelato from my local café down the resort, from fig to coffee, from pistachio to passion fruit... With a terrace view to kill for - overlooking the beach cove. Who said life wasn't a beach?

P.S: I have another confession to make: homemade is best!

The World's First Really Live Feed

Who said that awareness campaigns and calls for donations had to be stern and serious in their approach? In the UK, the animal welfare charity CIWF (Compassion in World Farming) came up with an innovative and interactive marketing campaign aimed at promoting the benefits of happy free range pigs!

Ingredients: take one free range country farm in Buckinghamshire, a posse of five happy-go-lucky cheerful and slightly peckish "Tamworth" piggies, and a giant interactive billboard down the road (London's Westfields Shopping Centre). Ask would-be benefactors to stand in front of the interactive screen, armed with the CIWF smartphone app in order to connect to a crazy-professor-style apple catapult strategically placed in the field, and part with £1.00 for the benefit of feeding one juicy green apple to the piggy brigade.

The smart thing is that the donator can literally see - in real time - where their cash is going. As soon as the £1.00 transaction has been processed, the apple is ejected into the field and a horde of happy gallivanting pigs comes for it, while the name of the benefactor shows up in big letters on the screen for that glittering 15 seconds Ta-Da fame moment!

All in all, this is a tongue-in-cheek fun experience that goes the light-hearted way - while striking a chord - to promote free range into the streets and educate consumers ... (vegetarians, look away now!) ... about their bacon! Over five days, 500 apples were thrown and the campaign reached out to 500,000 people, with the "to eat free range is to eat happy" slogan.

Why Good is Better than Perfect

I am a perfectionist - or shall I rephrase that - I used to be a perfectionist. Now what might appear as a clean smart ingenious statement to make, and certainly one I used to pull at job interviews, can also compromise timescales, efficiency and the flow of creative thinking. It can create doubts and blockages as that feeling of frustration generated by the unquenched quest for perfection might just send you loopy in your daily endeavours. So I learnt to let go and no this wasn't easy.

Perfectionism and an eye for detail were certainly qualities and pre-requisites in my area of work (Marketing & Advertising), when it came to typesetting, copy editing, proofreading, CMS (content-management system), image manipulation, customer profiling and segmentation, but sometimes perfection had to be harnessed and toned down and tamed because time was of the essence. And if we didn't have the right Pantone definition to hand, maybe we had to work out a close match, and if I was still unhappy with a layout, maybe just accept this was just an opinion - my opinion - and opinions are subjective, and for the good of all, we had to go with next to perfect - if such a thing does indeed exist as it would imply that perfection is measurable.

We could be debating for hours on end about what perfection actually is, and chance is, everyone has their own personal definition of perfection, based around a loose set of universally-accepted moral and cultural codes, Fibonacci, divine proportions, and a more personal, biased set of standards and gamuts and benchmarks. Ask Michaelangelo about perfection, ask controversial architect Antoni Gaudí, ask eccentric painter Salvador Dalí, ask Karl Lagerfeld, ask your best friend, neighbour, colleague... Where a tall iron-board high-cheek-boned androgynous woman might be Calvin Klein's idea of the perfect woman, many African tribes would opt for a plump curvaceous generously-shaped busty woman who embodies feminity, fertility and health. There is relativity in perfection.

Calvin Klein Fall 2013 Presentation

Some of us are driven by the quest for perfection, yet isn't what perfection should be about: an ideal as opposed to an idea, i.e. to aim for perfection as a lifelong quest, but never to reach it? Because once you have reached perfection, what comes next?

By becoming less of a perfectionist, I started to get things done, things and ideas and energy flowing more fluidly. I became freer once I started being less harsh on myself. Perhaps I wasn't 100% satisfied with the image content in a blog post, but there was no way I was going to hold on with baited breath until the perfect pic was sourced. No I didn't think I looked great that day but I would nonetheless pull a video message to a friend or associate, because content was more important than form and anyway they may actually believe I looked great! Perfection is all in the head and a potential danger to our evolution in life if we seek to attain it, rather than simply aim in its direction as part of our core values, while respecting our limited capabilities. As we have briefly demonstrated, there is no such thing as objectivity of perfection.

Antoni Gaudí architecture in Barcelona, Spain (Pict source)

In my life journey so far, I have found out that perfection is not a universal truth or state of mind, it is subjective. Perfection is one opinion, it is one's opinion. Pushed to the extreme, perfection is as subjective as those Mothers Day cards that go "To The Best Mum in the World". The idea of "Best Mum" is skewered because how can we determine she is the best as indeed we have no way to compare, as we only have one mum in life. "Best Mum" would imply that we have been able, as a daughter/ son, to compare our own mum to other mums, which is pretty nonsensical. We just experience our own idea of perfection, we create our own perfection.

P.S: I am keenly aware that I have only scratched the surface of perfection here. Besides my approach might come across as pretty simplistic to some of the "illuminati" yet I have never claimed to be a philosopher nor a sociologist. My only claim is to be deeply passionate about the workings of the human mind and their interraction with our daily lives. I am naturally curious about life, people, relationships, including the relationship we hold with ourselves. If this also describes who you are, you have come to the right place @ La Baguette Magique! Glad to have you around!

Illustration by Luis de la Torre, via Behance

Inspire Aspire - Jonathan Fields' Good Life Project Ft. Gala Darling

I draw a lot of inspiration and food for thought from the Good Life Project chat shows by Jonathan Fields, and his latest invitee, Gala Darling just brought me the best 38 minutes of my whole week as the living proof that you don't need to suffer the rigidity of the corporate system in order to "make it", that you can indeed turn your hobby into your livelihood, that you do not need to sell out in the process and can remain yourself and celebrate the quirkiness in you.

I am positive you will enjoy this fresh, lively and inspirational interview as much as I have!

Find out more from Gala's Radical Self-Love Project.

Gala Darling (pict source)

Hey, There is ONE Great Reason to Smile About!

OK, so NO you cannot change the world, but YES you can change YOUR world. You can change your world one step at a time, one habit at a time, one vision at a time, and make it a fairer place. Do your bit, recycle/ upcycle, reuse, go vegetarian/ vegan if only for one day a week, buy organic food whenever possible, grow your own fruit and veg, limit/ ban the use of chemicals at home, have principles as a consumer and stick to them (ex: not purchase bananas from banana republics, boycott unethical companies, never wear fur), pick up random plastic waste from the beach everytime you go for a walk (think of all those grateful sea creatures!), give a rescue pet a chance by adopting it, turn someone's junk into a treasure, get creative with those discarded wood pallets!

DIY Reclaimed pallet wood sign (pict source)

Swallow your vanity a notch and skip those designer coffees on the go served in styrofoam cups, and get extra mileage out of your existing mobile phone instead of rushing down the bandwagon to the latest all-singing all-dancing smartphone... Remember - what is trendy in the moment will be out of trend in the moment that follows (erm that's roughly within a week of purchase!).

Huh, I'm not asking you to be(come) boho, by the way - am I 'eck? Just to do your little bit by stretching slightly out of your comfort zone (no bungee jumping involved!) to show the planet that you DO care. I know you do.

And remember, a collective of little bits, that's a whole lot of a big bit! Ingenious!

Inspire Aspire - Nicky Clarke

Never underestimate the power of a hairdresser beyond hairstyling, for in celebrated UK coiffeur Nicky Clarke I found some lifestyle inspiration that still drives me to this day!

(Pict source)

A good trusty friendly hairdresser will soon step into your comfort zone as he attends to your tresses, becomes your confidante, favourite counsellor and best mate for the length of time you're in their salon. They will give you attention and importance, flatter you, lend an ear, reassure you, comfort you, and most of all - be on your side. I went through the ups and downs of my marriage and divorce, with Liam at Toni & Guy, then I went through the ups and downs of my new relationship, with Amy at Saks. And in between the two stages in my personal life, I found some further solace in a UK magazine interview featuring Nicky Clarke.

Besides at a time when I was at risk of spending cash like there was no tomorrow, Nicky was explaining matter-of-factly in his press interview what his female customers were looking for when they stepped into his exclusive salon and requested to be attended to by the man himself for that pricey cut and blow dry.

If you have it (the Swarovski sunnies!), you might as well flaunt it!

He described his clientèle as not necessarily wealthy. What those style epicureans were in search of was a good haircut. Within the logic of "you get what you pay for", and quality equals expensive, "good hair, good watch, good bag" fitted the requirement list, according to Nicky. Let's say, a Nicky Clarke hairstyle, a Gucci watch and a Prada handbag, in other words would-be heirloom pieces that will stand the test of time and the fickleness of fashion while giving out a statement of taste, elegance and social status. And a hairstyle that will compliment their style and make them feel a million dollars about themselves. Uncompromisingly good quality accessory basics that will carry off style essentials (outfits and shoes) with a less exclusive price tag.

Never one to fall for the cheap in the first instance, i.e. the throwaway pieces from the fast fashion circuit - bar the odd couple of items a season, I had found in Nicky Clarke the justification that you needn't be rich or harbour guilt in order to claim the ownership of an expensive designer accessory or even the odd designer item of clothing. And I did exactly that when I purchased my €300+ Swarovski sunglasses. And come to think of it, I was already doing it back in the day, with my expensive hairdos. How cheap can you go? Own 30 cheap trashy items that are not gonna last beyond a season or save up and buy one thing that will last the distance and make you feel special and exclusive? Kinda makes sense, doesn't it?

Inspire Aspire - Vivienne Westwood

Her eccentric style and sometimes far-fetched creations mean that she may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Vivienne Westwood is certainly a cut above fashion glitterati! To her credit, she has inspired countless designers and artists in the making to go off a tangent to explore their passions rather than follow the mainstream avenues of formal education in order to get a foot in the door and get noticed. And to me, this is all down to one word which has been a driving force for the fashion darling.

(Pict source)

I remember quite vividly watching a fascinating TV documentary back in England a good four years ago. I found it enlightening and inspiring, to the extent that four years on it still plays in the back of my mind whenever I harbour a doubt as to my next direction in life, and whenever I try find a reason why I can't make it.

Casually and very humbly, Vivienne mentioned a couple of times during the programme that she was self-taught. Yes that's right, a self-taught fashion designer and seamstress. She wasn't fresh out of Central St Martins College, and she didn't have the family connections to get that red carpet out and ease that ambition up into the fashion circles. The woman who famously said: "I didn't know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world" thought outside the box. She came from punk, she came from that clothes shop on London's Kings Road outrageously called 'Sex' where she designed crazy outfits for the likes of The Sex Pistols. As far away from the lofty French fashion houses in Paris VIII as can be... And the irony of it all would be that years later those very same individuals who sniggered at her origins would cram up into her fashion shows and shell out the dough.

Anglomania Collection - AW2013-14 - Look-091

To some, self-taught might mean a roundabout last chance saloon way of getting from A to B. To Vivienne, it was a successful means to an end, where theory was experimented upon, fun was had with swathes of fabric, where ideas could just flow without the restriction of dos and don'ts, and opportunities seized in a 'right place, right time' mode. Carpe Diem. Self-taught is the best out of the school of life. And closer to us, self-taught has seen bloggers turn household names and YouTube sensations set up shop very successfully, and I can't resist the thought of this other self-taught guy - Sir Richard Branson - the very boss of the airline company whose flight uniforms are being designed by our Vivienne. How ironic indeed!

Mousse au Chocolat

Let's demystify the chocolate mousse as a tricky fussy sweet, based on the vague assumption that all of French baking requires skill. Besides, the scores of recipe variants out there mislead the authentic method. Firstly, is the mousse that difficult a dessert to make? Well, just ask my ten-year-old self, this is how old I was when I whipped up my first mousse - with a little help from my grandma. This aside, I am about to demonstrate to you how unfussy this dessert really is. But most of all, the key to the success of this recipe relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients, especially in terms of chocolate and eggs, and not to rush through the prep. Then Bob's your uncle and in no time will that mousse be added to your to-impress repertoire!

Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 mins
Cooking: 4 mins

• 200g bar of good quality dark cooking chocolate (minimum 65% cocoa content)
• 50g organic salted butter
• 4 free range organic medium eggs 
• 4 tsp caster sugar
• pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. To do so, snap the chocolate bar into small pieces that you place in a small saucepan or heatproof glass bowl (Pyrex). Then fill a kettle with water and bring it to the boil. Place a big saucepan on the cooker. Pour enough of the boiling water into the big saucepan so that the bottom of the smaller pan containing the chocolate pieces (or the heatproof glass bowl) rests comfortably just over the hot water line (i.e. without touching it). Turn on the cooker on low, and leave the chocolate to melt, without tampering with it. Keep an eye on the boiling water so that it doesn't splutter unexpectedly or start boiling away out of control, as all is needed is a gentle simmer for the chocolate to gently melt.

The chocolate sauce

Once the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat and take the small pan (or glass bowl) off the big saucepan of hot water. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, but no longer than that otherwise the chocolate will start hardening. Add the butter to the melted lukewarm chocolate and mix together with a wooden spoon. Leave to cool further while you deal with the eggs.

Separate the 4 whites from the 4 yolks into two separate bowls. Add a pinch of salt to the whites and beat up with the electric whisk until stiff.

Add the caster sugar to the yolks and beat up with the electric whisk until the preparation has paled down in colour and fluffled up.

Add the yolks and sugar mix into the chocolate sauce and blend delicately with the spoon. Then slowly and light-handedly add the whisked whites into the sauce, one spoonful at a time, making sure not to crush the whites into the preparation. The mousse consistency is airy and bubbly. Think a softer (and nicer!) version of the Aero bar! Place in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Serve on its own, or even better with homemade English Custard, a couple of tablespoons of Bitter Orange Marmelade to taste and a selection of your favourite Macaroons.

Your Personal Brand Image

My first tangible encounter with personal branding was about 9 years ago while working in the Sales & Marketing Dept. of a top end projector manufacturer. It came through the post in the form of unsollicited mail. I could have chucked it in the bin because I just was so busy, but the savvy in me knew that key snippets of information, slogans and little pearls of wisdom were to be found in the most unusual places and marketing/ PR 'junk mail' was one of them and worked for me, keeping me abreast of trends, movers and shakers, latest fads, forthcoming events, flavours of the week, in big letters and bullet-proof bullet-point format.

(Pict source)

And there it came. It was a leaflet from a UK training/ events company inviting me to a seminar aptly named 'Walking TALL', devised and organised by Lesley Everett. The brief synopsis set the scene. Lesley devised her Walking Tall Branding Methodology based around the fact that employees are an extension of their corporate brand, and a firm's reputation - good or bad - is at the hands of its staff. Trust is at stake.

Poor dress, sloppy language, lazy approach, out-of-place comments and carelessness will be detrimental to a firm's overall image and credibility, it will make it look unprofessional and give it bad publicity. A hapless employee might not care about or even be aware of the consequences of their attitude problem or deliberate actions. Yet as employees, not only do we hold a responsibility in terms of our employers reputation, but also towards ourselves, which some of us might be tempted to overlook. In the corporate world reputation preceeds us. Word of mouth will soon spread like wildfire and that ill-mannered lawyer, untidy sales guy or moody secretary will not only dent their employing firm's image but in return have their own image dented and future employability compromised. Because yes it so happens that we have a personal image to protect and defend, beyond the realms of the firm we work in. This got my mind ticking big time.

Lindsay Lohan, photographed by Bryan Adams, via French Vogue

Look at it that way. You, as an individual, are your own personal brand. You walk and talk and breathe and eat and drink and sleep that brand. Go for the bigger picture and realise that your brand goes beyond the workplace, into your personal life, across to your leisure time, permeating your whole life. This is even more so true today right now, with the popularity of social media, where individuals have it in their own hands to write and rewrite their own life stories and reputations. Except that what is done online cannot be undone, as it gets shared, replied to, forwarded, commented upon, and distorted Chinese whispers stylee, leaving indelible traces all over the place.

Which should lead us to be wiser with that personal brand image whose reputation gets tarnished on a whim with inappropriate revelations, gratuitous slander and risqué pictures. Some people out there are finding themselves in the mess they created in the first place, because they thought it was gonna be a joke, for the fun of it, without measuring the consequences. Unlike most celebs and high-profile business people, most of us are unable to hire the big guns and afford the high-ranking lawyers and top PR teams who will work on that reputation damage limitation. Next time you feel itchy on Twitter or Facebook, just pause, log off and take that walk round the block or do fifty press-ups. You'll thank me later.

Inspire Aspire - Vitamins for the Soul (Part 2)

Then after watching Gabby Bernstein's video and deciding that she was to become another one of my Ladies Who Launch, I noticed that YouTube had cleverly listed to the side of my screen a Marie TV video suggestion featuring – wait for it – Gabby Bernstein. I told you earlier, it's a small world! Soon enough you learn to navigate it with ease and glean the information you need at a particular moment. Which reminds me of what Louise Hay said, that the universe makes sure you come across all the information that you need at a particular time in your life, as a useful coincidence that brings you the facts. This has actually happened to me countless times, hence the fact this succession of online coincidences from last week were not as coincidental as they appeared, and I knew straight away I was meant to act upon them.

Mastin Kipp's The Daily Love

A day or two later, my Marie Forleo newletter featured a video interview with Nick Ortner. Wahey, bingo! And then YouTube landed another Marie Forleo video on my lap (so to speak!), this time featuring Mastin Kipp from The Daily Love. Sorry, the daily what? I had heard of Daily Candy, but not The Daily Love... What planet am I from? So much catching up to do, Nat! This was another epiphany moment as I found out about a young man who in a not-so-curious twist of fate lost his job, house and girlfriend in the space of a few days and identified it as his calling from the universe to carry on an online project called The Daily Love. From then he moved on to being featured on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday and rubbing shoulders with the Louise Hay crew, although this was never in his vision board. The way Mastin's life has panned out shows a fantastic reversal of fortune! Sometimes you need to bite the dust before you can raise like the phoenix towards the life you are truly meant to have.

For me, this succession of happy coincidences were treble/ quadruple whammies from the universe showing me that what I believe to be impossible is actually a limit I have created inside my head, when really I have the competence and gift and eloquence to turn my own dreams and aspirations into a tangible reality which will in turn benefit the common good.

Nicole Moore's Love Works

Besides this, I have also joined relationship lifecoach Nicole Moore's The Lasting Love Series featuring fellow seasoned relationship coaches. I came across Nicole via the B-School Facebook group, as I am fortunate enough to be currently following Marie Forleo's RHH-Business School classes and interacting with a posse of smart, independent inspired ladies looking to turn their passion into a business.

Alongside it, I have enjoyed Kelley Rosano's latest Aries New Moon - Brilliant Breakthroughs insights and Libra Full Moon New Paradigm talk which are further calls to action, while I am still debating as to whether I should join her amazing astrology seminar to be held in Florence (across the water for me!) in the next few days. In my life there's always a Plan B, and this one by The Astro Twins in Tulum, Mexico, is tantalising, to say the least!

All in all, I have never enjoyed online information and communities as much as I have lately, purely because they have brought so much to my life in matters of personal growth. And cherry on the cake, not only was this amazingly free of charge but also by the same token totally priceless! This has motivated me back on track when I felt a bit wobbly about it all, while bringing me up to speed with the people in the know, the key movers and shakers in my field of personal development.

(Pict source)

The point of this article was about paying attention to the signs and clues that the universe sends you. If there is any information which you are meant to be aware of, it will bring you the facts in a chain of events and series of serendipitous moments like no other. Then it's of course up to you what you do with it. Take it from me, randomness is never that random. And maybe that energy-sucking office job is not what you are meant for. Jack it in for the life you are meant to have and those unique qualities of yours which you are meant to develop in order to serve others. The world needs you to make it a better place. Go follow your heart!

Inspire Aspire - Vitamins for the Soul (Part 1)

Sometimes the universe has ways to create serendipitous moments online and if you are not quick off the mark to figure out the clues which are meant to enthuse your calling with the food for thought it deserves in order to stir you onto your right path in life, I wonder what will? Hey, this is a wake-up call because it just so happens that we live in the 21^st century, bathed in technology and surrounded by phones that have gone smart and PCs that have morphed into PDAs and this means that in this day and age clues from the universe are as likely (if not more likely!) to be found via the media than in the nature surrounding us or while out and about minding our own business.

Rana Begum, from her 'Work on Paper - 2012'

Here's my proof to you.

Before I go digging deep into the subject, I will start off with a few pointers. It does help tremendously if you are open-minded and curious by nature, or at least if you willingly cultivate your sense of curiosity should the latter not be innate to you. And to help you cultivate that sense of curiosity, use social media as a facilitator. Turn the media to your advantage, and here's how. If you are a Facebook user, don't just limit your activities to idle chit-chats with friends. Go out of your way to 'like' pages by authors, bloggers, scientists, motivational speakers, personal development masters, etc. whom you are fond of/ interested in - and yes – curious about. Then push your explorative quest further by checking out the pages that they too 'like', and discover new authors, publishers, thinkers, etc. Stay tuned in and capitalise on the fact that the likes of Facebook and YouTube will cleverly list pages/ videos which are likely to be of interest to you, based on your personal preferences and your viewing/ search history, and soon enough you will be able to build up on your knowledge base.

Louise Hay and Nick Ortner

From social media, leap onto your authors websites and if you like the sound of things, join their mailing lists, and increase your inbox with value content. Keep it simple: what can I learn, what can they teach me, what is it they offer which can bring added value to my life, a new way of thinking, a positive approach, a vision?

Nothing beats a good word of mouth either, especially when it originates from a trusted source. Joanne Hall, my psychic friend, introduced me to Louise Hay in September of last year, and as much as I am ashamed to admit I had never heard of the great lady, an established institution of inspiration all to herself and founder of the highly-praised Hay Publishing House, Louise Hay was a great starting point for me, as she opened doors to a brand new world of interconnected authors and respected figures. You soon find out that the big wide world out there is actually quite small and compact at its core.

Now here's what happened to me a few days ago. My cascading lightbulb moments, strokes of inspirational genius and serendipitous moments started off with one of Louise Hay's weekly newsletters which, if I hadn't been curious about, might have ended up in the bin and with it the key to that snowball effect knowledge. The newsletter featured a forthcoming US event with a host of speakers joining in. I scanned the list, out of natural curiosity and a fascination for biographies. And then my eyes stopped on a younger lady from my age group who looked quite approachable in a girl-next-door kinda way, and this was Gabrielle Bernstein. I had never heard of her. I know it's bad but eh we all have to start off somewhere and the chance is I have heard of people in other areas of life that few of you know about, so it's kinda swings and roundabouts.

As always curiosity got the better off me and I went onto Gabrielle Bernstein's website and YouTube channel and stumbled across her latest video which I found really intriguing. It was about Nick Ortner's The Tapping Solution*, a book she had just devoured and was praising to the nines. She explained what the tapping was about (releasing blocked energies off certain acupressure points on the face, chest, underarm and hand, while saying positive affirmations). Now the name of Nick Ortner rang a bell somehow. Surely I had come across it via one of Louise Hay's newsletters, and so I started to investigate further. (to be continued)

Bonus * Get the first 2 chapters of Nick Ortner's The Tapping Solution eBook for free by entering your name and email address here. (Offer now closed).

Unlikely Friendship

I've struck an unlikely friendship with a retired lady neighbour of my parents. Her name is Janine and she is old enough to be my mum. Since living at my parents, I would occasionally bump into her in the street, we would say "Hello" and exchange the odd nicety, nothing less, nothing more. Her and I were poles apart.

Then back in September of last year, we got chatting in the street quite randomly. We poured our hearts out to each other about our lives as islanders and I found out how lonely and bored she feels here... Janine is from the city, independent, well-off, sophisticated, ultra-feminine and more acquainted with designer labels than plant tags. You get the picture: she is no country girl. She also happens to be married to a retired intrepid adventurer who made a living in the oil industry, from Scotland to Cameroon, from Mexico to Gabon, and it was her husband's idea (not hers!) to retire on the island, so he could indulge in boating, fishing, hunting and other earthly "pleasures"...

So far from the London buzz...

Recently Janine and I stumbled across each other again and we struck that unlikely friendship. It started off with a walk down the resort followed by a hot chocolate at the local café. But soon enough we agreed upon the fact that this sedate lifestyle was getting too much for us, and we needed to spice it up! Since then we have jumped in her VW Polo and taken to the roads less travelled of Corsica - at our peril, set that adrenaline rushing to the temples as we found out that quirky narrow mountain road abruptly turned into a piste and we had no other option than do a U turn in a tight portion of dirt track, wedged between a cliff face and a ravine.

We've ditched the sedate café for the trendy bar with deep carpets, lamé surfaces, dark corners, risqué beaux and fashionista waitresses, swaying gently to that pre-party ambient groove à la Ministry of Sound, clinked Champagne glasses, laughed dizzily and indulged in a glimpse of the lifestyle of the Housewives from Bravo! I can still picture Janine raising a perfect eyebrow from above her D&G glasses and pouting: "You have no idea how solo dining in a restaurant is soooo not fun!" And we exchanged that knowing look as high-profile culinary escapades are to be next on our list!

The Mercedes E-Class Coupé

Oh, I'm liking it. And I'm liking it much more than my bank manager as this burgeoning friendship promises to be high maintenance and a potential threat to my overdraft. But it takes my mind off my mundane preoccupations, and makes me indulge in a more shallow part of my personality. Janine and I have already planned to hit the top-end tourist hotspots when the weather hots up.

As she readjusted her designer clutch in the trendy bar, pensively admiring her French manicure, she leant towards me and casually added: "And for the occasion, we'll make sure that we hit the promenade in my other car, the coupé convertible". Talk about getting noticed in style! In preparation, maybe I should start giving Net-à-Porter a bit more of the attention it deserves... and worry about the cash later! Ahh, life is a breeze - a seabreeze even!

Fancy a Brazilian?

Now ladies, I wouldn't blame you for thinking I was on about that type of Brazilian... Anyone of those would surely brighten up a dull day?

Hot under the collar? Brazilian fashion model Isac Fioravante, photographed by Martin Traynor

But before some of you might be tempted to entertain Certificate 18 desires with the aforementioned, please allow me to clarify my thoughts on the subject. The type of Brazilian I am on about, although as likely to raise eyebrows as the hottie above, is more likely to be found in a beauty salon than on Praia de Ipanema... Get it? Oh yes!

And yes it is painful too. Rest assured, no hearts are broken over this one though, not even the bank, as you can expect on average to pay £20.00 for the service. Haha, no innuendoes please! How did I encounter my Brazilian (wax) experience? Well, this is mildly humorous actually and I thought this would be great blog post material! So here we go... (Don't worry, for the small print section, I shall be mindful of sensitivities and treat the subject with all due respect. Yet I shall not be held responsible for any innuendoes or unintentional puns and play on words, blink blink!).

For a few years now, I had been having a bikini wax everytime I went to the salon, as an extension of my leg session, and regardless of whether I was off to a beach holiday or not. I did it for myself, it's just the thing that finishes off your look, that makes you comfortable in your own skin. Thing is, a bikini wax is fairly conservative in its hair zipping method. You might wear that tanga on the day that gives you high leg definition and get the beautician to eradicate those sparse stragglers. Looking back, it was nothing earth-shattering although it did feel like it at the time!

Pict source: South Beach Swimsuits

Things started to change after my move from foggy Manchester to Corsica-on-the-Med, where my definition of bikini wax became slightly offcentre. The beautician would pull that brief up, get me to open my legs in earnest, because the likelihood is, living on an island with some of the hottest Summers in Europe, you are bound to nip down to the beach and expose some flesh, and you want to avoid any possible embarrassment. That's how my hairline from down there started receding, and actually I didn't complain, save for a bit of pain.

One night, bored online, I started clicking on different beauty videos (as you do), and I stumbled across one that explained what a Brazilian wax entails. Of course I had heard of those before but thought they were relegated somehow to those Certificate 18 industries and since pole dancing or a revisit of Debbie Does Dallas were never gonna be on my agenda, Brazilian was one wax strip too far for me. Anyway the description from that girl on the Youtube video made the technique sound terribly painful and – besides – unnecessary for a 'regular girl' like I.

For some reason, I still had the foresight (or insight!) to research the subject further as I was intrigued (or surely more bored than intrigued, right?). I found out that the Brazilian wax had been made popular in the USA, via NYC, by two Brazilian (who else?) beauticians back in the early 1980s. Please note that the Brazilian should not be confused with the Hollywood wax, the latter popularised in later years, leaves the skin completely smooth and bare! The Brazilian spares a teeny-weeny strip of modesty. Interestingly, and technicalities aside, I found out that it was possible to authentify the time period of a porn movie, based on the amount of hair on show down there... Erm, right, I shall leave this to the experts.

No pain, no gain, Nat!

Meanwhile a couple of weeks later down to my beauty salon on the off-chance to get my monthly leg and underarm wax, I was told that Jenny, my beautician, was fully booked up that day. I know I should have made an appointment, but instead I decided to nip down to the next salon and get that wax out of the way. I explained to the girl what I wanted and left it at that. She casually handed me a paper thong and when she saw my puzzled look, shrugged it off with "Oh, it's easier for me to work down there if you're wearing one of those..." Alarm bells should have started flashing in my head. Next I was lying on that couch, feeling exposed and awkward. She didn't blink an eyelid (eh, she had seen it all before!) and proceeded straight away with the bikini wax. When I felt the warm wax covering those neither regions I started to panic... "You wanted a bikini wax, didn't you?" She giggled and pulled that strip at the same time. Ooouch OMG! This had to be Karma sending me a reality check!

Now I have to admit that the result was good, great even, if you blank out the pain, because you can't expect it painless! When I came out of the salon, I noticed I was walking funny, like a cowboy who'd been riding his horse too long. I was chaffed down there for a few days, and thought I would never return to normal as some of the nerve endings were quite sensitive. But eventually everything went back to normal, and the hair even started growing back. And then I became kinda hooked. To that Brazilian wax. I felt clean and polished. No itching (except when the hairs start growing back, at the point where they break the skin). It made me feel strangely confident too. In the bathroom mirror, wearing my undies, I would have fun pretending to be a ballerina or cheerleader, extending a leg up and still look neat, wow!

Cheerleading my way to the bathroom mirror!

On that second time around I had to motivate myself to push that salon's door, but I came in prepared. I had taken a paracetamol beforehand, and arranged to wear comfy yoga pants. I was actually more apprehensive than on that first time when I had been taken unawares. Yet the pain was not as acute. It certainly isn't a pleasant experience, it won't feel like a pampering treatment, and in the heat of the moment you might rather be at the dentist's, trust me! If you are half-awake like I was on that early morning, the effect is that of a treble espresso X10... Never mind awake, you will feel wired for the rest of the day, but eh all for the good cause. You will look and feel great a few hours down the line, and that's a guarantee.

So much so that Brazilian waxing has now become part of my beauty regime. I might be preaching to the converted but if you are just wondering what the fuzz (sorry fuss!) is about, go for it! And you might even like it.

Honey, Please Bee Lovely!

Hi, my name is Nathalie and I am a carer. Now for those of you who are not quite familiar with this blog, I will tell you that many passions of mine are echoed through it, from creative writing, design and fine art, to architecture, travel, fashion, and more! And as if this weren't enough, I also happen to be an animal lover by heart, a wildlife supporter, a plant advocate and a bit of an "armchair ecologist" as I tend to describe myself. I sign petitions from my favourite charities and organisations, spread the good word via my Twitter account and personal Facebook page. Moreover I support the IFAW through donations. I try to lead by example, but I am maybe not as committed as I should be, for a number of reasons, hence the fact I call myself "armchair ecologist".

As actions speak louder than words, I am proud to say that I adopted my little dog, Tickle, over six years ago from Manchester Dogs Home, rather than get him "brand new" from a breeder, and I even adopted a cute little Russian hamster by the name of Billy off an East Manchester-based small animal shelter. I was proud for my garden to be essentially (although not 100%) chemicals-free, as I would rather use manual labour to get rid of so-called weeds, than succumb to chemical aids. I even liberally sprinkled my lawn with wild prairie seeds, to add interest and attract pollinators and other wildlife.

In the home, I was an Ecover fan, and played it easy with detergents. I recycled glass, plastic and paper years before I got provided with recycling bins by the council. I would get on the bus or drive down to the huge recycling banks on supermarket carparks with bulky bags of recycling. What I mean is I didn't wait for recycling bins to conveniently land on my doorstep to start thinking about recycling. I had taken the matter in my own hands years prior, and put my beliefs into practice, no matter how impractical they were gonna be!

The latest petition I signed today was via the Care2 petition site, the self-labelled "No.1 petition site in the world", which you might want to browse if interested, because I am pretty sure you will find at least one petition whose ideal it defends will be your call for action. As for me today, I decided to give our undervalued underrated humble bees the buzz they deserve. The "Bee Lovely and Help Save the Bees" petition is sponsored by NYR Organic (Neal's Yard Organic), a renowned British organic health and beauty company established 1981.

I quote: "Over seventy percent of the global food crops are pollinated by bees. Last year, the United States lost a full third of its total honeybee colonies for the fifth year in a row. This means that since 2006, the American bee population has plummeted from 4.5 million honey-producing hives to a scant 860,000. Worse, that number is still dropping. Rampant pesticide use is a major cause of bee deaths. In 2011, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) found that the use of neonicotinoid pesticides is both widespread and catastrophic.

Neonicotinoids are on average 7,000 times more toxic than DDT, which was banned in 1972.

DDT was banned because it contributed to the near extinction of birds, including the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon, and is particularly toxic to fish and insect life. Despite this, the EPA has not halted the manufacture or use of neonicotinoids, choosing instead to put the products "under review" for the next five years." (end of quote).

If this isn't food for thought to a call for action, I wonder what will be.

Europe has also seen its number of bees plummet, and in a bizarre twist of fate, urban bee populations like the ones in Paris seem to have weathered the decline better than their countryside counterparts which although being exposed to lower levels of exhaust fume pollution, are subjected to higher levels of pesticides found in fields and cross-contaminating nearby land, gardens and forests.

Besides a number of TV documentaries have shed the light on China's loss of bee populations, as a catastrophe by-product of Mao's bird slaughter politics. Today apple trees in China need to be hand-pollinated. This is no George Orwell fiction though, and reality couldn't have prepared us for such a violent wake-up call! 

And yes you can indeed do your bit: Please bee lovely and sign the petition.

Once you have signed the petition, you will get a thank-you note from NYR, as well as their beautifully-written and illustrated Little Book of Bees, plus a couple of useful websites, whose awareness I feel I should help contribute to, so here we go:

• The Great Sunflower Project otherwise known at "The Backyard Bee Count"
• Local Honey for chemical-free, unfiltered honey from a local (USA) beekeeper
• Support NYR's Bee Lovely and help Save the Bees campaign by purchasing a product from their special edition Bee Lovely Collection.

Yes guys, we can indeed make a difference, one step at a time, one click at a time, one petition at a time! Thanks for acting on this one.

Proud to Be a B-School Babe!

Guys and gals, I firmly believe that if you want something, you shouldn't just sit still and play the wallflower, fluttering your lashes at the wallpaper. If you want something, you should fly off that door and go get it! I know, such an action plan is not exactly what we expect to hear off a Geminian (my astro sign!), the dreamer, ponderer, idealist and artist of the mind who intellectualise their thoughts, while the go-getter energy of the zodiac is more akin to a sign like Aries. Yet I'll let you into a secret: according to my astrological chart by Jonathan Cainer, my Moon sign happens to be in Aries, thus this will explain somewhat as to where I get that streak of Mars energy from.

Marie Forleo (pict source)

So here we go... If you want it, go get it! And as it happens, I have been wanting to give my life a new direction. I have contemplated a plethora of options: volunteer in an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo, become a wwoofer in faraway places, involved in land conservation projects, or simply travel and fund my way on the go... I've also been exploring other avenues, more creatively-based and encouraged by a small circle of friends, I am nurturing a great idea (that I am keeping under wraps for now). To further facilitate this idea, I decided to join Marie Forleo's RHH B-School, and I want to shout loud and proud that I am one proud B-Schooler!

I am a fan of Marie's! She is an inspiration to me and embodies what a successful young woman should be: savvy, smart, presentable, pretty, professional, business-like, spiritual, passionate, compassionate and fun! I could add on more adjectives to the list! As soon as I saw her course presentation online and read the testimonials I was sold, I knew I wanted to join the class straight away and be part of a meaningful forward-thinking community headed by Marie. I knew I would be going places with the course, and it presented me with a golden opportunity to move onwards and upwards into the world, giving me the confidence to make my business idea profitable, run an office from my laptop and - most of all - be location-independent, i.e. not stuck in a brick-and-mortar office situation, but take flexibility in my stride and be able to run my business from anywhere in the world. This is priceless!

Via Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields

I have to come clean and admit that I find it difficult to religiously set time aside for the tutorial itself, but what I am really relishing is to be part of an international community of young, vibrant, dynamic entrepreneurs or would-bes! We exchange views, comments and advice in the forum, on our dedicated Facebook page and it is a beehive of creativity and movement that I find stimulating. It is helping me to find my feet while I reconnect with the world!

As a social butterfly I get easily distracted by the different topics of conversation going on, and then I go off a tangent, back in my bubble getting my business idea on paper, putting the course exercises into practice, and then off another tangent writing a few paragraphs on my blog, and then off to my 660+ Pinterest fanclub, and then out to the beach with Tickle (my cheeky Jack Russell Terrier), and then back checking my emails, and off again... It may somewhat appear disjointed but this is my own holistic approach. There's method in my madness, believe me, and eh let's not forget that's how us Geminian gems function: scattered about in organised chaos before regrouping and moving forward against all odds!

This is only the end of Week 2 at B-School but hand on heart I can say that this is my best 'tactical', 'pragmatic' move for 2013 so far! I feel like I am on my way to achieve something positive and make something constructive out of my life, nurture that business idea into a business plan into a career that I will embrace and love. This is gotta be one of the definitions for happiness, don't you think?

Inspire Aspire - Live Life to the Full!

Sometimes it takes unfortunate events to remind us of how precious life is, and how it can be taken away in a snap, without warning, logic, or a single valid explanation. And in a twisted twist of fate, such a terrible event can bring back the edge and lustre to your own life and rekindle that lust for life which you might have lost into the daily nags, challenges and worries, while slamming the latter back into perspective. This is exactly what happened to me four weeks ago...

'Surfer Girl on the Beach with Her Dog', by Ryan Cardone Photography

That's when Olivier, one of my brother's good friends, suddenly died. He was 29. His sudden disappearance sent shockwaves down the local community. Olivier had arrived from mainland France in August 2012 and settled into the local resort fairly quickly. He was a popular character, smart, friendly, pleasant, a picture of health, trendy, good-looking, quick-thinking and a success story in the making. He met Marion, a lovely girl from mainland France who had been working in the resort since the start of the Summer season and it was love at first sight. They moved in together in a studio flat by the beach, a dream-come-true lifestyle. My brother formed a great friendship with Olivier and everything was cool!

Then tragedy struck out of the blue, on that doomed Sunday evening. While he was out and about, Olivier suddenly complained of a violent headache and rang his parents to ask them to take him to hospital. His parents turned up but thought his headache might be stress-related as he was starting a new job the next day... Yet everyone quickly realised all wasn't what it seemed and emergency services were called. By the time they arrived, Olivier had collapsed from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. He was healthy, sporty, and the last person you would have predicted to go so soon, so quick, so young. Olivier's death left us in a state of disbelief and crush.

(Pict source)

A few days later, I came across that bit of text online and it spoke directly to me. It should also speak to those engrossed in the nitty-gritty of life, who complain about their existence, job, folks, home, cash crisis, identity crisis, mental state, country leaders, who knows! Stop all that whingeing right now and start living life to the full! Quit that job that takes your liveliness away, quit that partner who doesn't love you back, quit that place that drains the va-va-voom out of you! Quit the negatives so you may focus on the positives. Life is way too short to allow for moans, complaints, bickering and regrets. Get that lust for life back and move on with it! See you on the other side, dudes!