Simple words
Madrid. A city of sunshine and colour. Of art and culture. Of people and cars and noise and life.
The posts on the blog will tell you that there were good times. But I also tried to share some of the challenging moments and use the writing process to try to help me understand what was happening and why.
I feel as if I have a high definition, ultra-clear awareness of my mortality for the first time.
Real life. A view into someone's world, full of colour and character and intrigue
Every step you take brings you closer to your destination but the route of travel is always a choice.
But perhaps the biggest contrast of all is when you notice, during those brief moments when the city decides to rest, that everywhere is quiet.
Sometimes photographs and words fit perfectly. They blend and support each other like an old married couple, clearly lost and alone without their satisfying connection.
There will always be challenges for us to face as human beings and we frequently struggle to engage with each other in positive or respectful ways.
The dark part of twilight. It's a beautiful way to describe it. That brief moment in the city when the street lights come on yet, when you look up, the sky seems suddenly to have come alive.
So our weather does once again what our weather is good at doing. It plays with our emotions, it drags us down and then builds us up, gives us hope only to laugh in our faces as it changes its mind and decides “as we were”.
The inevitable, gradual process of decay. Detritus accumulates and everything changes, starting its achingly, agonisingly passive journey to somewhere and something else.
I love live music. Over the last couple of weeks I have been to gigs in a pub, a “pop-up” in a very exclusive gentlemen's outfitters in London and an old and awe-inspiring Brighton church.
Acknowledge someone you pass in the street. Smile. Offer to help where you can or just be there if you can't. These are lessons for life and no-one is too old to learn or too young to try.
Clear blue skies and cold winter mornings. Perfect for getting outdoors and spending time with nature.
There is something that feels very British about a wind-swept, freezing cold beach in winter. Almost deserted, with just a few hardy souls dog walking past rows of empty beach huts wrapped up against the storms and salt spray.