your *free* dose of liz :: kosovo

Freeliz in London

So I haven't yet had the time to set up a new London blog with a more appropriate name (and certainly don't have the funds to pay for a new URL!); thus for now my story will continue right here.

A lot has happened here in London in the past week. Where to begin? First off, we found a place to live. In two weeks we'll be moving to 30 Palace Court in Notting Hill / Bayswater. It's right on the corner of Kensington Gardens and about 2 minutes from Notting Hill Gate as well as the Queensway tube. We're pretty excited about the shift, despite enjoying every minute at Paul's  place on Grafton Way. You can watch the video below for a walk through, or check out the picts here.

Second, y esterday I bought this nice little red bike. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but I traveled all the way to Hillendon (which is the second stop from the end of the line, in bumf*ck suburban London)and after an hour tube ride walked another half hour in the middle of nowhere to find the guy's house. I couldn't be bothered to walk all the way back, so I bought the bike to get back to the station. It's a '78 Raleigh that was 90 pounds...not a steal, but cheaper than anything else I could find on the net...plus it has a basket and no-one would ever really go out of their way to steal it. I've ridden it around today and it was great. It's a little old skool but it's red, it's got sass!

The third bit of big news is that I started my apprenticeship at the Jivamukti Yoga Studio in London. My mentor's name is Durga and she's amazing. The apprenticeship basically boils down to:

-5 classes at JML a week

-3 assist classes a week

-4 in-class-privates a week

-teach portions of classes

-attend workshops with sharon and david

-attend all satsangs/kirtans

It's a busy schedule but I am sure that I will love and learn a great deal. I'm very very VERY excited about this.

The last news is that I met with my friend Paul's animator friends today who own a company called Model Robot. The idea is for Paul and I to work together to develop a longer term strategy for these guys and then to implement it....Will keep you posted, but for now, it's good night!

Is the sky gray, or is it me?

Here in London, the sky is gray. The thing is, it hasn't all been gray since I've arrived. I've seen the sun far more than most people probably do in their first week of living here, and it's only rained once. So I'm thinking maybe it's me.

There have been so many moves over the past year(s), and it's true that some of them I haven't been all that excited about. When my mind goes to the place that tells me that it just might not work out for me here, I try to remember all those difficult moments in Kosovo, Salzburg, even in Brussels and Amsterdam at times.  I pulled out of those moments and found something to love about each and everyplace that I've lived.  But this somehow seems ... different.

This is the most 'American' city I've lived in since Washington DC. People speak my language, there is an abundance of diversity and a fabulous yoga studio to frequent. The public transport isn't even that bad. But for the past week, I've had this knot in my chest that I'm struggling to let go of. What is it? Fear - of the unknown, of failure, of dependency. Fear of not being true to myself because of the pressure to make money to survive here.

I'm in that unsafe zone that fuels insecurity and self-doubt. This is my challenge, to see this experience as my teacher; to learn from the feelings that rise up being in this new environment; to become aware of those people around me, struggling in their own way, and to do whatever I can to uplift their lives.

I feel better already.

Yoga, yoga and more yoga (with a bit of thai massage)

A gift from the universe, it turns out that Danny Paradise is in town this weekend in Amsterdam, so my days here have mainly been about doing yoga, practicing thai massage, and getting some errands done and seeing friends in between.

Amsterdam has a special place in my heart. When I reconnect with my bike that's been standing in the rain all these months waiting for me to return it's like I'm back together with an old pal. And seeing all these wonderful friends in relaxed circumstances one after the other...well, I could just never leave.

But helaas, London awaits, and the next week will again be filled with moving and lifting boxes, packing and repacking. Not such a big deal since I'll be back in Amsterdam in October again...but well, it's tiring, sniffing cardboard boxes all day.

Been awhile, back in Amsterdam

After 6 weeks of travel in the Balkans, X and I have moved all our things back to Belgium and are awaiting our move to London.

It's nice to the beautiful city spaces in Amsterdam and Brussels again, and especially inspiring to see clean, green fields of grass and forests. As I type this, the window washers have just dropped from above to clean my friend's windows as I listen to the drilling of housing development projects near by. Still, there is a sense of calm and peace here unlike I've had in a long time.

These next days are administration - bill paying and moving boxes and making contact with some people.

I'm going to buy a new camera in these next days. Hooray!