Author Archives: worldenoughandtimeblog

Life admin… and the Year of Maya

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Well it’s been a busy few months, work continues in a fairly predictable way, still interesting and enjoyable, and somewhat stressful at times, but the other elements of my life have been interesting and complex as well. Juggling my life admin and getting the work-life balance right is something I’ve been very conscious of this year, and something that seems to get harder as I go along.

I’ve noticed a few things lately that have made me stop and reflect on my general work-life balance. (Spoiler alert – this is a fairly long post, so you might want to get a cup of tea and settle in).

Firstly, my job has become busier and busier, meaning I’m working longer hours than ever before, and the stress levels that go along with that are sometimes a little tough. It occurs to me that for most of my twenties, I was drifting about in different lower-level jobs overseas, and while there was sometimes stress, I wasn’t really in what you might call a career. And once I decided on my career, it took me several years to break into it, doing my masters, all those months unemployed, and finally getting a foot in the door, in a relatively low-level job where I was often bored or under-used, and I had to put in the time to slowly work my way up the ladder.

Now that I find myself in my mid-thirties, and finally doing really well in my chosen career, and finally in a senior enough position that I have autonomy and some authority to do things on my own, and I’m managing multiple projects, the stress and pressure has increased along with the increased levels of responsibility I always craved. I wonder if it’s an inevitable step, and one that others have trodden before, and how much of that comes with being in my mid-thirties? Does everyone, in roughly their mid-thirties, hit their career stride and find increased stress and pressure as a matter of course? Or does it happen to others earlier or later in life (I’m conscious that I started my chosen career later in life than some do). Continue reading →

More crafty things

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Here’s another couple of crafty projects I’m pretty pleased with – my new gin lamp and my kimono!

Here’a the kimono I made all by myself on a whim…

I don’t have any good pics of the finished thing, but here’s one of me wearing it at Christmas while my niece stuffed my belt with wooden spoons….

It’s super comfy, made of thin stretchy t-shirt type fabric, and I love it!

Continue reading →

Cheese, Wine, and some delicious new recipes

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This year a few things have happened to me in relation to food, resulting in some new experiments in the kitchen.

The first thing is that my palate appears to have suddenly matured, and I discovered that after 35 years of hating blue cheese, suddenly my tastebuds think it’s pretty much the best thing ever. Weird, but also delicious.

Secondly, my appreciation for red wine has suddenly soared, leaving me keen to try and taste lots of new and different red wines, in order to learn what I like (previously my only knowledge on the subject was that I liked Rioja, and all other red wines were a bit “meh”, But this is no longer the case! I also now have a fabulous book on wines which is helping me to learn and navigate the differences.

img_3306 Continue reading →

Highlights from the last few weeks

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Well, as I know a few of my faithful blog readers are not on facebook, here are some of the highlights of my life, in the form of my facebook posts, for the last couple of months, purely for your amusement.

17th November 2016

So, while I’ve been in Kenya, my boiler broke down, which was really complicated to get fixed remotely from here, and although it is finally fixed now, it is going to cost me a fairly big chunk of change.
This morning my lodger informs me that the washing machine is leaking and has flooded the kitchen. No idea yet if it’s fixable or requires a whole new washing machine.
Apparently everything is broken.
I blame Trump.

21st November 2016

For all my humanitarian peeps, and any others who are interested, here is a really interesting piece on the future of USAID under a Trump administration.

“Women and girls may have the most to lose. From the World Bank to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the SDGs to the new UN Secretary General, the economists, technologists, health advocates, educators, humanitarians, rights activists, and data junkies are all aligned and making the argument that investment in women and girls might be the best dollar spent…. Vice-President Elect Mike Pence, a radical social conservative, may be influential in rolling back US policy and investments in support of women and girls.”

22nd November 2016

A memory that popped up from 2 years ago:

“Aah, lush evening at the spa with my mum and my sister. I’m proud to be from the kind of family that can start a water fight in the sauna of tranquility… 😀” Continue reading →

All the places I’ve been

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In a recent conversation with my dad, I realised that in his 70+ years, he has travelled to a huge number of countries, (34 and counting!) so I thought it was worth listing all of mine out too to see how we compare!

My dad also pointed out that the majority of his travelling happened in his 20’s and 30’s, as like most people, once you settle down and have kids you tend to travel less often, so here is our combined list:  Continue reading →

Prayer before Birth, by Louis Macneice

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And now for something far more melancholy.

I have always loved this poem in spite of it’s somewhat depressing nature, and in light of all the global events of 2016, the many deaths of beloved figures, the combined shock of Brexit, Trump, and poor Jo Cox, this poem feels as relevant today as it did when it was written during the height of the Second World War. I have many friends and family members who have had a baby in the last year, many of whom are wondering what sort of a world they are bringing their child into, so this one is for them.

Prayer before Birth, by Louis Macneice

I am not yet born; O hear me.
Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the
club-footed ghoul come near me.

I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk
to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light
in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born; forgive me
For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words
when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me,
my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,
my life when they murder by means of my
hands, my death when they live me.

I am not yet born; rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when
old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains
frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white
waves call me to folly and the desert calls
me to doom and the beggar refuses
my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born; O hear me,
Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God
come near me.

I am not yet born; O fill me
With strength against those who would freeze my
humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,
would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with
one face, a thing, and against all those
who would dissipate my entirety, would
blow me like thistledown hither and
thither or hither and thither
like water held in the
hands would spill me.

Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me.
Otherwise kill me.