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Published: July 26th 2009
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Hello I'm back!
Hi everyone!
I was going to leave the blog where it is but somehow I felt you all were needing an update.
Well it's been nearly six months since my return, where did that time fly? It took me a while to adjust to normality and settle back into being home but I now feel like things have kind of settled down.
My first few weeks were spent catching up with everyone, friends, family and a few trips up and down from Kent to Watford. I went back into work which was lovely to see everyone but quite strange to be there. It has been so nice to see everyone and hear what has happened in everyone else's lives over the time I have been away. I still haven't totally caught up with everyone but I'll get there in time.
One thing I am truly grateful for is the slower pace I seem to have picked up. I've always been fairly laid back (thanks for that trait Dad) but I honestly feel calmer and slower on the inside. Someone said to me, “oh you wait you'll start work and get
back into the stressed way of life again soon enough” like it's a good thing? Well I'd just like to say I haven't and I strive not to go back to that!
My aim was to ease myself back to a lifestyle that keeps me happy and content and to concentrate on quality of life. So far I'm pretty chuffed with what I've achieved. After catching up with everyone I got myself signed up to study Kahuna massage, remember the one I was blown away with in Byron Bay?
It's just an interest at the moment as I should of been about to take my final exam in July but lack of numbers meant it was cancelled so that one's on hold for now...
The main interest for me since my return, my focus and the thing I have rekindled my love of is NO HANDS® massage. I began the training last year and was instantly hooked. I am just going to add a personal thank you to Keith G for the introduction here. This massage totally engulfs everything I believe and feel about massage. It is hard to explain and the best thing is to say
just go and feel it. If not from me, go and find a therapist near you and try it. I do think my massage has changed since I've been away which is quite interesting as I never got to practice much but it just goes to prove you can learn something but not necessarily implement it until you are ready from within. I'll stop this track now before I loose half of you on talk of my spiritual growth and journey that I began years ago and will continue on for years to come...
When I returned home I stayed with Mum and Dad for a while in Maidstone until I decided where to go. I still long for the sea and had an idea I fancied living in Brighton. I actually went down and there were jobs available to me but when I went I felt a little lost. Bright lights and a big city is not the scene I'm looking for at this moment in time. I love the buzz of Brighton but it felt too daunting to live there after the peace and tranquility of all the beautiful places I have been lucky enough to visit.
I then went for an interview in a small town called Horsham, West Sussex. I loved it instantly and my gut told me this was where I should be. It is such a pretty little town with a lovely park, cobbled quaint streets and a band stand in the middle of the pedestrian town centre where most Saturdays there is a brass band playing or morris dancers amongst the weekly market. It is quintessentially English and that is what I love about it. I make no apologies for saying that, after all I wanted to see what makes India India when I was there so it's the same principle to me.
Anyway I took the job and it's perfect. (Well the hours are perfect) The job itself is dental nursing which for me doesn't rock my boat anymore but it's a job and for that I am grateful. The best bit is that it is part time!! I have never worked part time in my life and I love it. The beauty is that I work three days a week and therefore have been able to ease myself back into work and keep a lovely balance with life
outside of work.
I have found a dance class I go to once a week called Nia which I love. It is a kind of yoga/dance/free movement/energy to music type of thing? Sorry, it's not easy to explain, again one of those things you have to try, or look it up on the internet and you can see people doing it. Nia began in the US with a couple who decided too many fitness instructors were getting injuries and wanted to find a solution and came up with a low impact way to move using music to feel and connect with your own body...it's so me and I don't think I found it by accident! I think things are finding me not the other way around because I am open and ready for them...opps here I go again!!
So here I am in Horsham, dental nursing three days a week and loving the Sussex life. I am living with a girl called Gemma who is delightful. I am renting a room in her house while I settle in and find my feet in the area. Gemma is a singer with a gorgeous soulful voice and I wish her
all the best as she would love to get her break in the music business, here's hoping for you Gemma!
I have been able to explore the area a little on my days off and Sussex is lovely. My travels have been made that much easier as I have bought a car! My first since I learnt to drive twenty years ago. She's a little Skoda and I love it and the freedom it gives me. There are a few nice places to walk locally, one being the nature reserve which has a heron colony and a hide on the edge of the reservoir to sit in and watch them which is so peaceful.
My best find so far though is a place called Leith hill, about twenty minutes drive away. It is quite high up and once at the top you can walk through masses of lush woodland. I almost thought I was back in Lammington with the thick ferns, gorgeous woodland smells and bird song and when I went it was during the heat wave so I could quite easily transport myself back to the other side of the planet. I have to say though why
would I want to when this is on my door step, what a fabulous find. The best bit though is that when you come out of the woods there is the most fabulous view of the Surrey hills as far as the eye can see, it's breath taking. There is a tower on the top of the hill which is open at the weekends which I went back and climbed another time and it was worth it for the 360˚ panoramic delight. It's these things which make me feel at home whether here in England or literally on the other side of the planet. The feeling of home is just that, a feeling on the inside, not an actual physical place. I can shut my eyes think of something that feeds my soul and be home.
I'll put this on hold for now and follow up with the rest of the up date another time, bye for now...k
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Jo Haslam
non-member comment
FAB AS USUAL
well my girl you've certainly landed on your feet - i am so happy for you - you deserve it!! keep up the writing - you were born to it!!! love you lots jo x x x x