9 October 2018

A little self-care

Tonight is the dark of the moon - last night I could feel the last of the moon "buzzing" and it was so unsettling. Tonight, after a long walk in the park in the sunset with daughter, I am collected and calm. I have kitty company and the silence I have craved all day. 

I've found myself making some interesting decisions lately. Making choices for me, to explore parts of me, or just do some things that make me feel grounded.

One of them is booking a ticket just for me for Johannes Moser's cello recital at St Andrew's on the Terrace this Sunday: he's playing three of Bach's cello suites (1, 3, and 4), which I completely adore. I am taking myself off to the concert by myself, as I am not going to miss a chance to hear (some of) the suites live. Yo-yo Ma has released a third album recording of them and is now touring the world with the suites again - if he comes here I'm going, no matter where I might have to go to hear them. My lovely brother sent me a live recording of Yo-yo Ma playing all six in a row as part of the Proms season in London a few years back and it is absolutely my go-to music. I love Bach in any form and for any reason, but the suites are special. I came late to them - I forget how I came across them but they have captured my heart. 

Other things are booking to go to the Women's Spirituality conference in Christchurch in November - the flight times are pretty ugly but I wasn't going to miss that one. I didn't ask anyone either: I just told hubby I was going! I have read some of the papers from the original conference 30 years ago and I really want to network with other women who are exploring what spiritual living might look like in the 21st century, when it seems that all we have gained in the last 40 years might be lost again. 

I've also joined a Tai Chi class at work - I did Tai Chi at a previous job and really liked it. This class runs in lunchtime once a week (which is better than after work for me) and the two I've done so far made me feel so energised and so grounded - I was sparkling full of energy and ideas in the afternoon! I may need to book out the afternoons after Tai Chi for project/high concentration work to make the most of that!

Hubby and I are continuing to enjoy Ceroc dance on a Friday night - we'd missed a few classes due to being sick and it was so good on Friday to get back to class, catch up with the friends we're making there, and get back on the dance floor! 

Another thing I've done is book out every Friday as a no-meetings day next year - either to work from home or do concentrated project-type work or study. With the pace of change heating up next year, it seemed the sensible thing - take control of my diary before other people got near it! I suspect those Fridays will become really important as my uni papers begin next year too - also a scary thought but another thing I am doing for me. 

The most interesting of those things is entering direction again.... I am really looking forward to company on the way, especially as I am travelling "home by another way". 

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