365 days project 2. Day 55. My favorite smell

   Today I was talking with a friend and she asked me what my favorite smell was. I honestly didn't know to reply. From all the smells in the world, pick just one? I never thought about this before, but after some minutes of thinking I remembered the smells that make me smile happily: the smell after rain, the smell of freshly baked bread, the smell of coffee (even if I don't like drinking it), the smell of my favorite perfume - Little Red Dress, the smell of lilies and freesias, the smell of new and old books. 

   We focus so much on seeing and hearing that we forget the smell is also a very important sense in our life. How would life be without it? Definitely way more boring. But I couldn't choose just ONE smell that I love very much. How about you?

365 days project 2. Day 38. Rain on me

   Some people are afraid of rain. Not phobia - afraid, but they just don't want to go out when it rains and they dread having to walk in the rain. I used to be like them until I understood that rain is... just water :)

   We are afraid a lot. Of the smallest things. I really think that sometimes we're like elephants - afraid of mice. Do those fears help in any way? They used to protect us against predators back in the day but today they're useless. 

   Let's enjoy rain more! Let's dance in the rain more, walk in the rain and sing in the rain! So much potential, let's make rain our friend! :)

Day 354. Empathy gone wrong

   Today was one of those days when you empathized with the weather more than you had planned to. You let the gloomy clouds and the heavy rain get to you, so you were cranky and bored all day and you knew nothing you do could change that. 

   You wish things could be different and you could be like other people who just see rain as mere water coming from the sky and gloomy clouds as random weather. Today you wish that more than ever. You know everything is an illusion and it's all in your head as much as you know you can't really control it. You tried it before and it was always more powerful than you. 

   It is what it is. So maybe the only option available in this case is finding something that would turn your day upside down. A reason to smile, a reason to fall in love with today:) Guess what, when you want it hard enough, that reason reveals to you and even if outside it's pouring rain the sun inside will keep shining:) At least that's what happened to me, even if it was just a little movie which totally spoke to me. It was enough to make me go to bed full of hope like any other day.

Day 296. Rain aftermath

   Isn't life a continuous sequence of sun and rain? Interestingly, the sun always shines after the rain. No matter how furious the storm, how many problems it causes or how many problems you cause yourself. 

   Story of my life:

   So the storm and I mingled today and we elaborated more problems than we should have. 

   And now that the sun rose I'm trying to figure out which are the real ones and which I have invented and after I'll be done with it the night will come and tomorrow will be another perfect day for making up other problems. It's what I'm best at... And I hate it.

   I wish it would just stop and I could turn off my emotions whenever I feel like. Can I do that? Pleaaaaase?

Day 291. To be or not to be afraid

   From time to time we want something really bad but we're afraid to go get it because something might intervene and the odds might not be in our favor. So we back off and wait for the proper time to make our move and finally get where we want. But when will that day come if we keep postponing it?:) 

   It was a moody day today but my family and I chose to defy it. We went for a picnic even if we knew there was a high chance it would rain. It was already noon and that's a late hour for a picnic, but we left knowing that we wanted to have a good time in nature and so we did. We found our spot and spent some relaxing hours without even a single drop of rain. I even found some amazing photographic material:) 

   So, I'm asking you now: Would my day had been better if we had chosen to fear the rain and stay at home? 

   Whenever you want something, the right time to go get it is NOW!:)

Day 289. The choice of feeling lonely

   That awkward moment when you want to go to a music festival but there's nobody to go with. 
   Most of my friends are studying for finals and the others are doing something else. So what now? Choose to go there alone and feel weird surrounded by couples or groups or stay at home and feel weirder for not going since you want it so much? Choices like this one make my life complicated. Thank God for the rain that made my choice easier:) 

   See? Sometimes we need external forces to choose for us. Sometimes we're just not strong enough to say "I want this. And I will get it no matter what." And it's weird because...

   So next time I'll follow my instinct and stop depending on people. Next time I'll choose ME.

Day 275. That awesome feeling

   .... of living freely, of living in the Here and Now. 

   Today I chose to feel good doing what I love and leave aside what I "have to". I chose to enjoy the sunny morning reading a beautiful book (The Paper Girl - Guillaume Musso) and let myself take in all the positive energy that involved. 

It even rained in the afternoon and guess what. This time I wasn't annoyed. The fact that I chose ME over THEM made me enjoy the fresh smell during the heavy rain and actually take photos of it:) Isn't it interesting how a small change can have such a big impact upon a whole day?

   Today I had to cook. New stuff. And I was a bit afraid everything was going to turn up a mess, but it actually went well. I was happy and I took the challenge positively. In the end, the sun involved that part of my day, too:)

    My lesson for today: 

Choose to feel free from time to time and just do what you love. You'll see how your whole day will change in an instant:)

Day 259. Beyond the rain

   It's been raining on and off these days. And it wouldn't even be as annoying if it wasn't for the gloomy clouds and the sleepy mood everyone seems to be into. If it's sunny now, it will rain again in less than an hour. So it seems that Spring is back to being bipolar. And today we match. Actually, we're all like her. All the time. 

   We're fragile little beings that bend according to the wind. A simple word said at the wrong time or in the wrong way can shatter our whole world and yet, another one, can make us raise from the ashes. 

   Words mean everything to us. We're emotional beings and what we say is influenced by our thoughts and emotions. Our whole life is an EKG. Going up and down as the others talk to us and as we do our talking. And we're so influenced by the rain that our whole body goes to sleep wanting to avoid it. And the saddest part is that we're incapable of seeing beyond the rain. I, for one, no matter how much I try to make myself smile while rain is coming over me, I just can't. It's wrapping me in its gloom and it's telling me the saddest story I've ever heard. 

   So here I am, longing for the sun, for better times, for someone to teach me see beyond the rain:)

Day 216. When the time is right

   Today was one of those days when you're easily deceived by the weather. In the morning I enjoyed the best sunrise in months only to feel raindrops on my face hours after that. Of course I didn't bear an umbrella with me. Murphy was right again.

   While I was waiting for the bus under a roof, I looked up and I saw trees blooming everywhere. Not just little leaves, but flower buds altogether. I was amazed by the fact that trees, unlike apartment plants, can grow by themselves and they just know when to do it. They might be a little late, but in the end they follow the process closely. They are little phoenix birds that remind us we have to go on and leave behind the things that drag us down and just search for happiness in every little thing. We don't even have to expect it to happen. It's enough if we look around. That's when we realize it's already happening:) 

Day 194. Like a phoenix

   Today it rained. Then the sun came out. And then it rained some more. It's like Spring herself was crying over a break up and then she was smiling between tears. 

   I know it's hard to be at the bottom of the mountain and try to climb it back again, but if you've got someone to make you smile between tears, then you're the happiest person alive. 

   In the end, we all need help from time to time. It's only a matter of wanting to accept it or not:) And spring took it. I did as well. And now we're both raising from our ashes like a phoenix. 

Day 172. Happy coincidences

   Sometimes I'm really happy I can write my memories in here. There are some days which totally sweep you off your feet... those remarkable days that you'll want to remember. Today was one of them:)

   The morning rain was announcing a terrible day, but that was actually just the wrapping of the present. It scared me, but as the day passed and I opened my present I realized sometimes a beautiful thing can be wrapped in plain paper that turns you off. If you, however, have the patience to unwrap the present, the real beauty will come to light. 

   Out of nowhere my schedule cleared and a bright sun started to shine through the trees outside my office window. It was too good to be true:) I felt like reading in the park but I remembered the park wasn't green yet so I let that idea aside. By the time I decided to go home I found out my boyfriend had free time and he wanted to go walk in the park as well:) Sometimes things connect and you don't even have to move a finger. So this is how I ended up in the park with my loved one bathing in the warm sun and enjoying the life of a student... that careless life when you feel free to do anything you want and responsibility isn't written in your dictionary yet. I missed feeling like a student:) Working can limit you to behaving like an adult and forgetting to enjoy the little opportunities life gives you. But today I said "yes" and it felt sooo good:) 

   As I was putting the wrapping away I realized there was something else in the box. "Life of Pi". I knew it was supposed to be a good movie but for some reason I kept avoiding it. Until today. My whole family watched it. We laughed, we stared in amazement, we waited and then we sighed. It was one of those movies that exceed your expectations. Wow. Just wow. And here's the thing that impressed me the most:

"In the end the whole life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."

   Today I was drunk with happiness, sunshine and freedom. I want to feel this again:) The feeling of youth makes you young again. And who doesn't want to be young?

Day 50. 50 shades of gray

   We all walk through life with our very own perspective and there are few times when we can really put ourselves in other people's shoes. Well, when you're sick AND the weather is gloomy you see how some people envision life: no matter if it's sunny outside or how many reasons they could find to be happy, all they do is keep their eyes closed to all the beauty and opened to all the mess in the world. It's a big burden some have to carry around...

   So, Friday seemed pretty awful to me and even the beautiful leaves carpet I adored days before, reminded me of death among plants. How sad it is when leaves fall off their secure and nurturing branch. That's exactly the same with us. We're connected to our secure and nurturing network of family and friends and when the time is right, we fall to the ground and leave behind the rest of the leaves that are to fall sometime too. Nevertheless, if we watch everything from a different perspective, there's nothing more bohemian and romantic than autumn sceneries with leaves floating in the air and touching the ground to form a large colorful blanket. 

    In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!:)

Day 35. About scents and flavours

   Seems like it rained last night. This morning, after getting off the bus towards work I was at first sad by the grey vail that fell over the city because of the clouds that were still sticking around, but then, as I was walking, I inhaled that special scent that can be felt after rain. That special scent that you HAVE to love:) 

   I immediately thought about how much I'd love to be able to preserve scents and even flavours I liked during my lifetime and put them in small, beautiful bottles and then fill a big chest with them and open one or two during hard times. Man, how would that change my mood in an instance:) Or even better, link a story to every bottle and then tell the stories to my children and grandchildren:) I'd love that very much. 

   So, here's the next best thing: a wannabe pond:P Wouldn't you love to preserve special scents as well? Scents that have a story behind are the best scents ever:)

Day 22. Optimism

   Even though today it rained almost all day I gazed at one of the most beautiful sunrises I've seen:) The sun was rising so carefree not minding the gloomy clouds above. I liked that. It was something like "If you're optimistic, no matter how hard the times will be, you can go through." 

   We should learn something from everything we see around us. Sometimes the details count more than the bigger picture.

Day 14. 50 shades of autumn

   Last Thursday autumn showed us her bad side. It rained all day long. I know some of you love rainy days, but I don't. I'm exactly the opposite! I LOVE sunny days and I take my energy from them. So, as you can guess, rainy days make me blue and "help" me find the bad part in everything. Yeah, what a psychologist since I can't psycho bubu myself with this one... I don't know, I've always been like this. In love with the "springy" kind of weather. The one that reminds you nature is alive and kicking. Rain just melts everything and covers the beating heart of nature. 
   Don't you agree?