The Whole World and Me

My last post was a few days ago, but I have the best excuse ever: it was my birthday! As the gipsy I am at heart, I celebrated for four days, taking two days off work (what an indulgence!) and trying to enjoy every single second.

People tend to have very different reactions when it comes to important birthdays. Most of the people I know suffer from birthday blues... I used to be one of those people, feeling all sorry for myself because I was one year older.

30 is definitely one of those dates. The number seems kinda scary because, in essence, it represents real adulthood (at least that's how I saw it). As I grew up, I tended to imagine myself with different ages, setting up semi-goals as I wondered where would I be. These views kept changing over the years, of course, as I progressed through life and learned things usually go a different direction from what we had planned, especially when it comes to our life path. Even though, I had certain "ideas" and what I can say now is that I am starting this decade on track (regarding the "ideas" I have set last year, of course).

Turning 29 was the difficult one for me. My life was upside down and I was feeling lost within myself. I guess it makes sense, as I feel your 20's are really the decade of inner search, when you discover and define yourself and who you want to be. I would say 30's are the decade to feel comfortable in our own skin and to enjoy life with a new certainty: who we are and what we want. Albeit this is not as easy as it sounds, I am optimistic. I think my 30's will be amazing :) As a good friend of mine told me, this is the time when we, especially women, feel more confident, sexier and have more money. Can't argue with this wonder trio, it is all true ;) 

It is also true that today's 30's aren't what they used to be for my mother, for example. Times have changed and society's expectations, some societies at least, have changed with it. In the leading up to my birthday, the topic du jour was exactly this: how everyone I know who is 30 doesn't feel like they are, in fact, 30. This feeling comes from the fact that a part of us still holds the "old" idea of 30. Although we feel comfortable in our own skin, a part of us still feels we should be married, with two kids, starting a retiring fund. But the truth is, most of us are in very different places, with very different goals. And there's nothing wrong with that! 

All and all, I'm happy in my 30's. So far, so amazing! Life is great, there's a clear path and direction leading me where I want to go, I have great company joining me in this amazing adventure we call life and I just can't wait for what this decade will bring me. My 20's were a crazy ride, full of learning experiences, ups and downs and all possible detours from that "idea" I had in mind. 

20's, you were awesome, but I am more than ready to start my 30's!

xx

Do you know Tinder? More importantly, are you on Tinder? I know... I was probably the last person on earth to know about this app, but give me a break! I am in a very happy relationship and I don't have that many single friends. Of course that, as a good friend pointed out, I do work in the communication field, so I should know about these things. Well, point taken... let's move on.

I was introduced to Tinder during a work-turned-into-fun dinner: four girls with wine. One was a user since the beginning. The other one was using it for a few weeks. The other one is in a relationship but was very much aware of its existence. And then me. The silly out-of-the-loop girl who didn't have a clue. They showed me the app and how it works and told me some stories about their experience. I have to confess that I was shocked, surprised, intrigued, curious and then shocked again in the space of 30 seconds. I asked the girl who was using it for longer if she didn't feel it was shallow and if she wasn't annoyed to be judge only based on her looks. She told me it wasn't that much different from going to a bar, scout the place, see who appeals to you and who doesn't and that make your move or wait for someone to approach you. Basically the same, with the difference that she didn't have to leave her house and she could easily discard the guys who weren't interesting. Ok, I can relate to this. She's a busy girl in her thirties, working in PR just like me. We don't have that much time, so in a way it kinda of made sense. 

Totally surprised with this, I basically went around for the next days asking everyone I know if they knew about Tinder and if they were on it. The answers were from every kind, but the one that surprised me was the one from a girl I know through my job. She wasn't on Tinder, but a friend of hers was and her conclusion was that it was all about sex. Well... come to think of it, this really didn't surprise me. I guess what surprised me was that she was the only one that spoke about it. All the other people were describing it as online dating. Afterwards, I had dinner with two of my best friends. One was on Tinder, the other one didn't know what it was (I felt a little better ahah!). We spent 2 minutes on my friend's profile and it was fun! Going through the images, saying yes or no, it was all so easy and so... objectifying. After those 2 minutes of fun it all felt so... sad? Is that the word I'm looking for? I mean, I still remember what it was like when I was single, it was all so difficult. The older you get, the more difficult it is to meet people and especially to meet someone special. So Tinder seems like an answer to a problem that exists in our society. Maybe it's not the perfect solution, but it is an answer nevertheless.

In the name of research, I visited Tinder's blog and the first sentence is: "It was almost 2 years ago that we came to the realization that even with all the networks we have at our disposal, the ways we meet new people were boring, outdated, and filled with barriers. We envisioned a solution that was extremely fun, natural, and would mimic our real world behaviors - and Tinder was born."

I have to say, there's a not to be said about this statement...! And all this talk about Tinder and online dating also got me thinking about our social media being vs.our human being, but that's a subject for another post. ;)

My first post was published on January 29th 2013. Along this ride of almost a year and a half and 267 posts I've changed a little...

For the last couple of months, it has been difficult for me to write, even to publish a post with images and inspirations. Truth be told, it was mainly a question of time, but now that I have more free time on my hands, I would sit and try to write and nothing came to my mind. First I thought it was a question of inspiration, so I started my own little routine again of daily visits to my favorite blogs and tumblrs, of discovering new artists and exciting cool projects... Yet, nothing happen. I would sit in front of my pc watching that little bar blink while feeling utterly incompetent. Even though this blog is not my job, it is a labor of love as I've said many times before, not being able to write one little post made me very sad and disappointed... what had happened? The questions "Did I really loose all inspiration?" began to haunt me and I was beginning to feel I had to press the delete button and discover a new labor of love. Until this morning...

My mind only starts working during my morning shower. Until then I am a robot-type human being who does what it does every morning: workout, coffee, shower. While in the shower, I start to plan my day, compile my to-do list and decide what to wear. And often, during the shower, I have great ideas (do not ask me why!) which leads me to start conversations at the office with "I was in the shower and..."  (already an inside joke among my colleagues). 

And so, this morning, a lamp bulb literally appeared over my head and I started thinking that maybe I should change the template of my blog!! Ding, ding, ding! It made sense! The fact is, I wasn't feeling connected with my old template, the lettering, the background image... I've changed and so I felt I needed to change my blog as well and reconnect with it.

So far, so amazing. I LOVE it! It feels much more me (the "now me" at least, let's see what happens in one year), much more clean and organized.

So, here's to a new day and a renovated blog! And new inspiration, I hope!

The Whole World and Me has always been my oyster and I hope that this new look will inspire me to continue to write and share my thoughts, inspirations and everything else that populates my life with you.

Hope you like it!

xx

It's been two months since my last post! 

This statement just hit me really hard... This blog is a work of love and I've been neglecting it due to a crazy amount of work (as always!). This just makes me sad, you know? While browsing through my past posts, there's this tendency of mine to disappear for a month or two every now and then. I always come back promising you, and myself!, that I will make an effort, I will continue writing, and yet here we are again.

Honestly, I'm sitting here wondering what the hell am I going to write about? Should I just post some pictures and be done with it? Would that soothe my conscience? Or should I write about the last books I've read? Well, that was my last post so not highly original. Damn! Could it be that I've got nothing interesting enough to write about? Am I just so focus on writing press releases and communication proposals that I can't put together a decent entertaining/moderately-interesting post? Now I just feel depressed....

Let's try the basics... what I've been doing lately:

- Work, that goes without saying. It has been a busy time with new projects, events and a lot of things happening. On the other hand, it has also been a time of growth and evolution, one that I hope continues in the right direction. There's exciting things around the corner and I have been having some fun preparing them. It's always nice when your work gives you the opportunity to participate in great projects that you can be involved with from the start. So that's what's been occupying my time as of late.

- Love. It is always challenging to find time for love and your relationship, especially if it's a new one, when you are BUSY at work. But I've managed, thank the heavens!! I also should say, for the sake of truthfulness, that I am lucky to have a very understanding partner who, even though hates the fact that sometimes I can't really disconnect, is always there ready to listen, to organize fun and romantic dates and to hold me and kiss me until I stop thinking and talking about work! (thank youuu!)

- Friends & Family. There hasn't been much time for my friends or my family, unfortunately. I try to be there for them as much as I can, but I'm still just one person with two arms, two legs, one mind and 24 hours a day. Yeah, I know, lame excuse, but it is what it is. What sucks the most is that three of my most beloved friends are going through tough times and I haven't always been able to be there for them, only on the phone which we all know is not really being there. You guys, I do the best I can, but I should definitely do more, so no excuses for me! I love you all!!

- Travelling. From work to pleasure, this girl has been travelling. Twice to Italy and once to paradise. This last trip, just a quick four day getaway, was just heaven. I will share some photos soon.

- Reading. So many great books, so little time! I've discovered two amazing authors who have been able to literally glue my eyes and hands to their books - Marisha Pessl and Jeremy Bushnell. Fantastic books, amazing stories, inspiring tales!

I guess this sums up most of what's been going on for the last couple of months.

I will not say, once again, that I will try to write more and post more. I think I just have to do it and stop wasting time with promises!

So, I'll leave you with that! 

See you soon and enjoy the sun*

Oh yes! The winter belly, that awful monster that creeps out when the cold hits, is definitely taking its toll on me this year. Gone with the salads, the fruit and the healthy snacks that are such favorites of mine during Spring and Summer, in with heavier meals, chocolates and warm snacks to help me feel comforted. Although I'm pretty sure almost all women in the world suffer from this syndrome, this year I feel I am the only one living it and suffering from it! I do try, seriously!, to cut back and eat soups, which are also warm and comforting. But pizza is such a good idea when it's raining outside, and pasta, well it's just the perfect meal for a cold day.

I swear to you that I promise myself everyday that I will put an end to this, because not only do I have a winter belly, I also have winter legs!!! HELP! The weird thing is, it seems I have no real incentive to lose this extra weight... cozy sweaters keep the belly undercover and black makes everything thinner, right? So with no beach-bikini days ahead of me, I just keep thinking "Oh well... let it be! Soon enough I will have to continue the perpetuous diet all women live in". In the meantime, I just avoid mirrors ahah! 

But why is that? Why am I not reason enough to close my mouth and stop eating cheese-filled goodies? Why am I not the motive, above all others, to start looking for healthier alternatives to winter food and just resist!!! "C'mon girl, you can resist temptation, right?" Well, dear brain, no! Apparently I can't! Even my favorite leather skirt is tight enough to make me not breathe, and not even THAT is an incentive. It seems that I need outside incentives (read: exposing my body to total strangers will give me all the strenght I need to lose these extra wintery kilos). This is kinda of sad... isn't it? On the one hand, I cannot accept this winter belly (and legs!!!) and just reconcile myself with it, just for a few months. And on the other hand, I don't seem to have enough will to just loose the dam belly (and legs!!) and stop whining about it!

Yeah... you're right! Now I'm just whining to all of you instead! 

Well boys and girls, I guess this is my queue to leave and focus my energy on other things, like finding healthy winter recipes ;)

Have a lovely day!

xx

Now it just seems like a faint memory of a space where I wrote all my thoughts, shared my views and feelings and did inspiring image posts. God! Why oh why is this happening? I hate not having time, and mind!, for my blog; I hate not having time for anything!

Be back soon!

xx

A great mantra for 2014, don't you think?

Today I did something that scares the shit out of me!! Seriously! I still can't believe I did it, but I did it! I didn't listen to that little voice inside telling me "Well... you can always do it tomorrow..." or "Are you sure you want to do this? What if you are rejected?". I silenced it immediately because you know what?! If you don't do it, you will never know and I rather know it then wonder constantly "what if...".

So here's to be bold and dare to go beyond our comfort zone, because seriously... Life is just too short to let fear freeze us from living!

Be happy and bold!!

There's this special moment that happens... One that if you're very luck you may feel more than once.

It's the moment in between - a kind of different space in time where rules don't always apply. It's the moment when you only feel. You don't think, you don't question you aren't even afraid... You just feel. 

This is when life really happens... This is when you discover what euphoria really means... This is when you leap with faith and don't even look back.

If you're very, very lucky, you'll have someone by your side jumping as blindly as you and you will both feel that special exhilaration that only the moments in between can make you feel.

They say life is what happens when you're busy making other plans... 

They are very right! 

Seriously... I am writing this with tears still flowing from my eyes. Oh man, oh man why do I do this to myself? Because these little videos, these unforgettable 3 minutes give me hope... That's it! Hope that we all learn, one step at a time, one video at a time, how to be good. Yes... good!

If you want something in life, reach out and grab it.

This is a quote from the movie "Into the Wild", written and directed by Sean Penn and inspired by a true story.

Many of us feel the need, the urge even, to find ourselves. We live the lives that seem to have been laid out for us and there's something, this tiny voice, this tiny knot in our stomachs, that tell us to reach out for more, to look for ourselves beyond what is expected.

Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I have a feeling I will relate to it and its story, and most of all, I am sure I will cry! ahahah I know, I know... what can I say, I'm a cry baby, I relate too much and I tend to feel other people's pains as my own. So I have been postponing watching the movie, just because I know it will be one of those punch-in-the-stomach-experiences.

Maybe I'm just afraid...Afraid I will hear this tiny voice just a little bit louder, feel this knot like an exploding star inside my stomach and feel there's no way I can hide any longer from the inevitability of my own self search...

Well... in between these moments I have the movie soundtrack as my own soundtrack - all made by Eddie Vedder by the way.

Hope you are out there being all happy and stuff :)

Male survivors of sexual assault quoting the people who attacked them...

The rain has arrived and my tiny city by the sea looks and feels utterly different.

There's something special about the first day of rain... The light is brighter and yet dimmer, the surfaces glisten, everything is wet and the smell is fresh, like a new beginning. I just love the smell of the rain....

This morning, as soon as I realized it was raining, I just had to stand by the window for one minute (crazy me!! 60 full seconds of "me" time) and listen, feel and smell. All my senses were awakened with this first rain and my heart skipped just one small beat, because I felt like renewal... Does this even make sense?..

People are normally afraid of change. But, if there's one thing this year has been teaching me is that change is good, it's positive, and we should welcome it with arms wide open. 

Fall equals change and I am so ready for it I can almost taste it.

Can't wait for Fall :)

Back at blogging after a month away... yeah!!! I missed this!

The part of a person that some people believe continues to exist in some format after the body has died, or the part of a person or thing that expresses the basic qualities that make it what it is.

MATE noun

A friend or a person you work with

SOULMATE noun

Someone, usually your romantic or sexual partner with whom you have a special relationship with and who you know and love very much.

Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love

"People think a soulmate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone want. But a true soulmate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soulmate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake, But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soulmate's purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and additions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..." 

Yesterday I watched the amazing movie "Before Midnight". I was beyond excited to watch this third movie, I mean, I missed Celine and Jesse and I wanted to know what would happen to them at 40, now that they are a couple with two adorable twin daughters, beautifully named after the queens of Jazz Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, by the way.

You know what I've learned from this extraordinary movie?!? Women are real bitches! Yap, that's the truth! This movie is the more realistic one of the three, in the sense that it really depicts a couple's real life, when children, work and schedules get in the way. And how women, when caught up in all these noises of life, can be real bitches. 

It's funny that my cousin also watched the movie and didn't get to the same conclusion... I guess, as everything in life, we see things as we see ourselves and I related a lot with Celine during this movie, even though I hated her! ;)

The sad truth of it all is that I too was a bitch sometimes in my last relationship... I'm ashamed to admit it, but since I'm in a personal quest for inner knowledge, well I figure I might as well put it out there for everyone to read it. 

So as I watched Celine transform into this unrecognizable woman in front of our eyes, and as my hatred for her kept growing, I realized I was having such a strong reaction to the movie because I related so much to it... Human beings in general, women in particular, tend to lose themselves in the day-to-day things, forgetting the much more important things in life and love. It's so easy to get lost and most of the times there's no one there to reel us in and make us see, as Jesse did with Celine, that life is so much more that schedules and petty little things. 

As we get older and share more and more of our lives, we also get more and more responsibilities which can blind us to the things that used to be the center of our universe. Yes, what we think it's important in our 20's is certainly different from our perspective in our 30's and 40's, but we should never lose sight of our more naive selves...

As a good friend told me the other day: "Remember when we were happy and didn't know it?", this is exactly what I mean. When life was easier, we were happier and we didn't even recognize it.

So I guess the secret is to take a journey into our past and hold on to those little things that used to be, and still are, all we need to be happy!

From your most loyal bitch!

xx

TO GET FIT AND HEALTHY!!!!

This is my new Goal and I'm doing it for myself! 

Wish me luck ;)

The road that kept us together is finally breaking into two separate roads: one for you and one for me. I leave you at this crossroad with tears in my heart, but I know, I really believe it, that our roads will merge together once again. But for now, we must walk alone.

There's nothing sadder than leaving someone you love behind... Saying goodbye is probably one of the hardest things we have to do in life and yet here I am...

I will gather the pieces of my heart and will continue to build myself again. After all I've been through this year, after all the disappointment and lessons learned, I continue to feel like a puzzle, still putting these shattered pieces together. And now I have to do it on my own, because, let's face it, this is the only way to do it!

When you lose someone (please note that for this post "lose" does not include lost per death) you will find yourself, sooner or later, missing that person. It's inevitable. Even the ones who were bad to you... after a while, the distance allows you to miss the good things and, consequently, the person. Or does it? 

Do we really miss the people who are no longer in our lives or do we miss what they made us feel? The other day, a friend introduced me to an interesting concept: the idea of co-memory - memories that are shared with someone and don't seem to exist if you we don't share them with that same person. It is true... I can recall that great summer I spent with my ex-boyfriend, but the memories won't be as vivid, as real, as if we would be talking about that same shared summer together.

Memories are inevitably linked to people, places, smells, tastes, you name it. And so, I wonder if when we miss someone we are really missing that person or just a feeling... because that person is also a link to a certain memory, which, in the end, is what you are really reminiscing about.

So in this game called life, where people are constantly getting in and out of your life, how do we know who/what we really miss? Can we ever know it? Maybe we will always miss the ones who made us happy, even if later on they were also responsible for our unhappiness. But, at that point in time, you shared a happiness together and that's really what you are missing. Furthermore, I think most of the times we also miss ourselves when we miss someone... We miss the person we were at that time, the way we felt, how we saw our lives at that particular moment...

I feel that most of us are constantly missing something or someone. We are perpetually living the past in our heads, thinking about those good old days, when everything was better. But ask yourselves this: Was it really better? Does that person, who you miss, the one responsible for your happy, better and easy days? Or in fact were you the one responsible for it? 

So, which one is true?...