Day 539: Cutting the grass

The garden of my life. Cutting the grass can be a life-changing experience. It's not clearly about the mowing itself, while much more about its metaphorical meaning. When you cut the grass, you make new life blooming in your garden: cutting the grass and weeding out nourish the soil and make the perfect foundation for new grass and plants. Life works exactly the same way: everybody faces struggles and challenges, but it's the way you face them that change it all. Weeds is what usually clutter up your life - usually in the form of stress, negativity and procrastination - and make you losing focus on what is really important. That's why is so relevant to weed out your garden and cutting the things that lost their meaning, from time to time. 

"Gardening is a metaphor for life, teaching you to nourish new life and weed out that which cannot succeed" (Nelson Mandela)

Take your time. What works best for me is taking my time to weed out my garden and seed it with positive thinking, wonderful music, inspiring readings and gratitude. Clearing out the clutter regularly makes my life easier, more accessible and focused on what really matters to me. Being open brings abundance, both in life and garden.

Day 140: 20 weeks later...

Time flies. Today is exactly 20 weeks of London: 3360 hours, 201.600 minutes and 12.096.000 seconds. Now it really seems that I left Rome quite time ago. And I hardly realised it. Last time I wrote a post for this blog it was the end of January and now I've been thrown to the beginning of April. Lots of adventures, experiences, happy moments and even fearful instants.

February misadventure. Someone tried to mug me with a gun during one of my night walking around London. And he didn't except that I could react as I did, thanks to my Krav Maga skills learned in Italy. I sent him to the hospital: by now he should have learned that lesson.  All's well that ends well!

Second job. As I don't believe in God, I don't believe in coincidences, but sometimes opportunities are hidden where you least expect them. Thanks to English lessons through Meetup website, I got in touch with several people and I took the chance to start writing articles for a budding commercial website. Extra money is a good reason, brave new projects have always attracted me and last but not least in this way I won't lose my Italian writing skills. That's the way.

Rome break. At the end of February I went to Italy for a few days. It was great to see again my family and all my friends, but my impression was really negative. After more than three months away, Rome wasn't changed at all, in fact it was even worse. Same life, same shops, same people, same complaints: it was a distressing view. I was truly happy to leave again: that broad mood can drag everyone down and I was lucky to have the possibility to change. 

Cold spring. March went away very fast among long nights of work, great nights of fun and a really cold weather. It was sunny most of the days, but I didn't except this freezing cold in late March, so even during spring. Anyway, the weather is not a problem: after the first cocktail it's already gone! 

April is gonna be a tough month (and I even need to find a new room!)... 

Day 62: Two Months in London

Sorry. It passed a long time since the last time I wrote a post: I'm sorry, but I was not able to constantly update this blog till now. Time is money as businessmen say: it's not my case, but here in my new life in London the time is short and there are always plenty of things to do. However, from now on I will try to be more consistent: it is one of my good intentions for the coming months and for this new year! 

Changes. Since the last time I wrote (3 Dec. 2012), much changed. Just few days after that date, I found a room in the beautiful area of Wood Green, just 6 minutes from the tube station and within walking distance to all major shops, groceries stores and shopping centre.

Beautiful job. My Zara job goes on well and every day I love and I'm passionate about more and more. Organization and precision have always been two of my main skills and being able to practice them at work makes me excited: it's always nice to receive compliments for your work! Indeed, it's really appreciable the British habit of thanking those who work at the end of their shift, as the manager will always say "thank you for your time"... it's preferable not to think to the Italian comparison!

The new year began under a lucky star. I decided that, as I was in London, my new year would have to be absolutely original. So, putting aside my shyness, I went to a meetup with other 250 people in a traditional British pub in St. James's Park. Funny and amazing night: I drank good wine, I watched the fireworks on the Thames from a great spot, and above all, I talked to many people and take ​​contacts of some of them to meet them again in the future. A great experience.

My English is going better every day: movies, books and conversations with different people are helping me a lot to improve my vocabulary and my pronunciation. But it can never be enough! Indeed, one of the goals in the coming months is definitely to attend more meet-ups and meet as many people who speak English as possible, to attend an advanced class in writing and conversation and to get the IELTS Certificate with a good score. More effort and commitment in 2013.

Among many good intentions, the first one is to be more punctual. Too many times in the two past months here I've been late and for the British punctuality does really matter. I'm not talking about work, except for once when I made a mistake calculating the travel time from my new home to job place, but especially in interpersonal relationships. I have to learn to better manage my time within the next two months: this is my goal!

Two more. Finally, in addition to the previously stated goal of learning to iron shirts, there are two more good intentions related to each other: sleep less and make special every new day. Seven hours each night will be enough because sleeping more is a luxury. I'm in London, so I wish I could take the best of every day, every hour, every minute, making it special for me, thanking to still be here every time the sun rises.

Lots of ideas for the coming months. Once again, time is short, so now I need to get dressed and go out to attend the next meet-up, before it's too late.

Stay tuned! (I stole this beautiful expression to a dear friend of mine!)