By chance I got to travel alone to a place by the sea where I travel each year in June with friends.
It turned out into a major insight for me - I should have a yearly solitary retreat. A time to catch-up with myself and actualize whom I have became over the past year, be aware of what is happening and where I am heading next.
Meditation and permanent awareness are in the base - I talk about a yearly conscious break from the routine, creating a space and time designed with the soul purpose of getting back in touch with that inner self.

I will move to a new country in 1 week for a couple of years, start a brand new life almost from scratch. The change makes me slightly anxious (like any change does- and I am aware that this feeling precedes growth) and excited at the same time.
The retreat helped me sumarise the things that influenced who I am (my family, my minority nationality background, my friends, my experiences), the who that I have constructed myself to be and the opportunities that the change brings.

A yearly retreat -  a chance to re-invent or simply re-confirm myself ..

(from Raleigh's travel blog - absolutely inspiring: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lraleigh/youarehere./1111418460/tpod.html )

The wine of the divine grace is limitless
All limits come only from the faults of the cup.
Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon
How much it can fill your room depends on its windows
Grant a great dignity, my friend, to the cup of your life,
Love has designed it to hold his eternal wine.
The Wine and the Cup ~ Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

A classic - still true as ever, I agree with every statement.

Some of my favourites are:
"Sometimes you are ahead, sometimes you are behind. The race is long - but in the end, it's only with yourself". 
"Your body is you greatest tool - don't be afraid of it or of what others think of it" - I enjoy my body and wish I would take better care of it. I like the feeling of being fit and I know I can do better.

"Don't be reckless with other peoples' hearts and do not put up with others being reckelss with yours".

Life is all about changes - they will happen, ready or not. But you can chose how to react to change, how to experience it, how to embrace it or even how to attract it.
I made up my mind I will be happy even if there is no change :) - this being said, I will continue seeking change for the experience of it :)

So - next changes: will move to new country (switzerland), will learn arabic, will practice rowing and will participate to orinteering races. And I will do great at my new job.
Still, I will retain elements which became part of me: will sail often, will speak french, will hang with old friends and will love.

I am grateful for my life, for the changes and for the learning, for the experiences and for the people with whom I shared them.
I look forward to the rest of my life :)

Whirling with devotion, one hand towards the sky and one hand towards earth, all here and all now - such a beautiful way to search for the touch of the divine ...

I jumped from snow to 38 degrees and from slopes to desert&diving and what a wonderful jump it was

Jordan was one of the most wonderful experiences I had so far - and I warmly recommend it to all open souls & free spirits. The country is very beautiful, the people are part of some of the warmest cultures I met and the sites are amazing.

I got to fulfill a childhood dream - entering Petra from the shadowed siq and seeing the red-rose façade in the sun impressed me to tears.

Got to dive to -28m in a coral reef and to ride a jeep into the Lawrence of Arabia's Wadi Rum desert. Saw crusaders castles and went to -400m below sea level at the Dead Sea.

The ordinary/extraordinary daily life sites were equally amazing: beduin tents on the hills with goats and Toyota jeeps near them, people ridding camels on the side of the highway, smiley girls with veil on the head telling us "Ahlan wa sahlan - Welcome to Jordan", smoking shisha in a bar where local girls and boys sign along the Arabic songs, delicious food and local wines ...

Additionally - I got to rediscover wonderful friends and share with them this amazing experience. Some of the best highlights of the trip were debating life with a mojito in one hand and the sight of an old/ new world at sunset before us - the road trip would not have been the same without them.

Hope you'll be inspired to travel to Middle East - there is a whole world out there and so many more things to be discovered and experienced.

They say "Allah mahabba - God is love" - and I keep finding this in all cultures ... we are all one ...

Shukran Jordan!

was chating to a scotish guy about sailing and he said he never did that.
I said surprised - "I thought all british people sail.", and he goes "that's the english. Scotish swim, it's cheaper" :))))

I like british culture of random conversations to strangers in pubs - it's amaizing sometimes how insightful some of these conversations can get.

today was the first day of snowboarding...
It is a long time I did not try something for the first time (since 2 yrs ago when I started diving). It has an exhilarating air about it - will I like it, will I be good at it ...

Experiencing something for the first time reminds me of taking the first bite of a new ice-cream flavor - a bit of incertitude mixed with excitement. Or even better - of opening a new door, not knowing what's behind but open to exciting new possibilities.

Gracefully (aka slowly) making my way down the slope without falling after 2 hours of practice - the excitement almost chokes me, the world is mine and I can do anything I imagine:))

I like snowboarding :)
I still like skiing too - and the wonderfull thing about new experiences is that you do not need to stop doing old things but merely chose to add new ones to the endless list of reasons for which life is so great.

And btw - sailing remains my one true love, my main star on the list, the mother of letting-go-and-just-live-it experiences. To me sailing is life at its best.

what is yours?

It seems I needed a lesson of detachment - as I surely got my lesson this month ...

Do not get attached to anything in this life, they said, as nothing is forever - do not get attached to people, pets, relationships, things, places...

Only unconditional love is forever, and this I keep in my heart