Twenty Four…

Happy New Year!

I had to wait 24 days to be able to say that because I’m so slow at change.

I just kinda realized that as I typed actually.

I’m funny that way.

It’s citrus season in the land of sun, where the desert meets the forest.

I have so many citrus trees at the country house and now at the villa too.

I’ve been utterly swamped with moving.

But since I’m living in my two homes (country house is not going anywhere) I’m finding a balance.

Luckily they are close to each other.

You can’t take one home apart to furnish another.

So you find new things.  Well mostly old things in my world.

But new to me all the same.

You want to keep the same feel & vibe in one place, but still have a sense of youness in the new place.

It’s crazy, crazy.

But so much fun too, if you don’t let yourself get overwhelmed.

My dad always says…

Costumbre es mas fuerte que el amor.

Which means habit (or familiarity) is stronger than love.

But what I have found, in the deepest way through my journey, is that…

Habit, familiarity, what you are used to becomes love.

And so, while so many things are changing in my life, so many things stay the same.

Rose hips become swollen with baby seeds.

Big beautiful dogs nap in the warm sun.

The always present –

Rosemary of every season.

There for pinching and sniffing and culinaria when everyone else is asleep in the garden.

The collecting of seeds.

Basil infusions.

The scent of summer on your hands.

Desert and forest.

Ivy and cactus.

Fairylights.

Gypsy wagons.

Trees, birds…

Winter violets.

Mister Lovee, the Mad Hatter…

Tending the property in the distance, assuring me it’s all good.

Fly butterfly.

Everything is okay.

Ivy creeping so slow up the tree.

Taking years to make its way.

Slowly but surely.

New people, new places, new love, new ideas, new perceptions of change.

I was so adventurous before I came to the country house.

I tried everything.

But then, I felt so cozy and safe that I never wanted to leave.

And my safe haven filled my soul.

Fur babies & growing things made me deliriously happy…

(they still do)

But then like anything.

You need to add something.

You can’t eat the same thing everyday even if you want to.

You need variety in your nutrition or you’ll die, you know what I mean?

You need to see the ocean again, you need to see old friends.

You need to smell air in other places.

Should I try it?

YES!

Bring you fur babies with you!

🙂

They might want to try it too.

I’ve always said I don’t like change.

When I like something I adore it.

I smother it.

I delve as deep in as I can and I hang on.

I can listen to the same song 5,000 times in a row.

I find comfort in something and I sink in.

I sink in deep deep deep.

But I’m learning how to allow change in to a place of habit.

 

Do you allow change?

Some people LOVE it.

Some people need it.

You know how when your best friend falls in love you never see him or her again?

Because something feels so right and good to them, they want to be with that new person 24/7.

Well, I feel that way about songs and movies and plants and the coziness of my home.

How bout you?

 

But now I’ve ventured out again in the last few years and it’s sooooo good too.

And you can add it to your current life.

You don’t have to give up anything.

But most importantly, you always have yourself.

 

We probably shouldn’t build a fortress around our lives that allows nothing in.

I’ve been opening and expanding my heart, like I did before I came here full time in 2008.

Trying everything again.

It’s not easy, but it’s not hard.

It’s not as hard as we make it, to allow other things in.

And so, I’m on a crazy adventure.

And while so many things are different, so so so many things are the same.

And the country house is still my sanctuary.

And I still meet the hatter in the fairy bower to discuss life.

And he still guides & urges me to run free.

Like he did in his hippie days.

And everything morphs and changes as it should.

And when you decide you need change, it will find you.

Don’t fear it.

Just accept it.

Just enjoy it for what it is.

Find the happy spin on anything negative.

Because maybe the universe and the heavens are sending you on a voyage beyond your wildest imagination.

And maybe it’s okay to venture out and allow yourself to enjoy the greatest gifts it wants for you.

I always rolled my eyes at that saying, life begins where your comfort zone ends.

I scoffed, that’s so stupid I’d say to myself.

But you know, there is some truth to it.

I’m finding that out for myself.

And slowly, trying new things becomes a sort of familiarity in its own way.

 

As they say below, and I’ve never experienced anything truer –

 

It is in the moment that you make a decision, that the universe conspires to assist you.

 

Boy does it ever!!!!

 

All my love to my friends out there.

Happy new wishes, happy new journeys.

Happy new year.

24.

 

xoxoxox,

 

Vanessa