💜Are You Feeling Inspired?💜 - Being in Belgium for the first time in over 14 months has been a great excuse to share, once again, all of our travel stories with our family and friends. - I, Silke, come from a family of travellers and with my younger brother and sister at ages 7 and 9 I hope that I am able to inspire them to hit the road when the time is right for them! - This has become one of the main reasons that we share all of our travel stories and adventures. Because we want to inspire those around us to go out and have their own adventures and discover all of the beauties of the planet we live on! - Do you feel inspired following our adventures? - - - 📸 - @bemayone_ @notlakeyou - - - - - #belgium🇧🇪 #inspiredliving #familygoals #storytimes #hatsofinstagram #happytobehere #happytobeback #cityphotoshoot #storysharing #europeancity #piratelovesmermaid #wanderlustcouple #coupletraveler #adventurouslovers #thenomadlovers #loversgettinglost #inspiredtravel #couplephotos #thetraveltribe #couplewhotravel #travellershouts #epictravels #globecouples #welovetotravel #wandertheworld #roamearth #thewandererscommunity #travelust #traveltogether #roam (at Dendermonde, Belgium) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCtSjk2hDNy/?igshid=olyn42gv5ml9
☝️👍👉@americanroadrunner - Episode #26 @bornmean Beulah Mae: Her Healing Road. You know her from @girl_on_a_moto podcast. We sit down and figure a few things out about love, loss and moving forward on 2 wheels. Warning: the content of this show gets real. Listener discretion is advised. #bornmean #motorcyclepodcast #girlonamoto #love #loss #2wheeledtherapy #storysharing #chopcult #americanroadrunner #americanroadrunnerpodcast https://www.instagram.com/p/B3AgRi9lA-8/?igshid=1fbqn1d6arzne
I have not written much for this blog, but I promised I would write more to myself this year. I found myself stuck in a predicament I didn’t know how to carry alone, and more troubling still, I couldn’t find people who had carried it before me. When I came up short, I decided to write — and maybe someone who’s where I am will find it, and we can share in it together.
February 14th was looming. As a single woman, I felt that familiar societal dread — but something in me stirred. I would not be at home, wine-drunk and miserable. Self-pity be damned, at least for today.
I had already made a dentist appointment — a Saturday, perfect for my schedule — something practical to fill the time. And then I thought: my dentist is downtown. I’ll be my own lover for the day.
I needed something to do with myself, so I returned to an old love. I searched for a good book — something to bear witness to instead of being trapped with my own dizzying thoughts. I needed a crutch, something to have and to hold while I bambi-legged my way through the day alone.
I admit I am no longer used to doing things on my own. I have lost confidence in a thousand small ways. I would tell myself, “That looks fun,” and then wait for someone to accompany me. When they couldn’t, I resigned myself to not going at all.
Then, one beautiful summer day, I felt the chill of winter coming — yes, winter, not fall.
I decided to catch the last dredges of warmth and go to the beach by myself. It felt like resistance. My first step into it.
While gathering my things, I found a book tucked under a pile of clothes on the stairs: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. Serendipity at its finest. If you find yourself living with fear, I offer you this kindness.
I was lost — and my fear was that I would never be found.
The question haunted me, and maybe it haunts you too: Who am I?
That became my resolution for the new year: find yourself through the fear. Do things with yourself, for yourself — especially when you are afraid to do them.
Don’t hate me, reader, but I typed into ChatGPT asking for a plan for my big date, and a book recommendation based on others I’d loved. That’s how I found The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
At first, I was put off by the title. What the actual fuck is a potato peel pie, and what does it have to do with a literary society? But like Sam-I-Am, I told myself to try it. Maybe I’d like it.
I had planned a full day, but after the dentist I realized my face was so numb I couldn’t feel my eyebrow. The fancy tea and baked goods would have to wait — my half-dead tongue deserved mercy.
A part of me said to pack it in and go home. At least I’d fixed my teeth. At least I’d bought the book. But a quiet, insistent voice told me to stay.
I ended up by the ocean, eating lunch — something I’d been too nervous to do alone the summer before. Back then, I felt every imagined eye on me. Not now.
I was resolute in my choices. I believe that when you are in alignment, the world offers signs encouraging you forward. Mine came in the form of a hungry gull.
He wasn’t one of the small white ones. This was a seafaring bird — not to be trifled with. Anything that can traverse the sea with nothing more than wings and flipper-like feet has more grit than I do. What I felt wasn’t fear so much as respect.
He made himself small beside me, staring expectantly at my lunch. I felt bad — mac and cheese can’t be good for seagulls. The thought turned into writing, as it often does, and I begged myself to remember it:
Seagull, I am sad that I have nothing to give you and I’m sure you’re sad there is nothing to get, but you sit here with me anyway. I try to explain, like you could understand, and from the way your head tilts, I think you do. The wind picks up, and you are gone with it.
I realized I was not alone in the world — connection could be made, even with a hungry gull. Then I opened my book.
This is where I met Juliet. If you read it, you’ll meet her too — and you’ll find yourself in her letters as I did.
I forgot what a good book does for the soul. I felt less alone than I had in a long time. Acceptance and grace — things I’d been forcing myself toward through mud and uncertainty — arrived quietly instead.
A great melancholy that had anchored itself to my soul lifted.
Juliet longs to be seen for who she is. She quarrels with herself, and I laughed, because 1946 or 2026, it doesn’t matter — fears are still fears, insecurity still lives in us all. She looks at the world the way I do, and in the turning of the universe, she finds her life. Or rather, her life finds her.
Even after all the darkness they had endured, something bright came after. I believe it has come for me, too.
The mournfulness I carried days before is hard to find now — not gone forever, but softened. Let us not pretend the skies will never grey again. But for now, the clouds have parted, and the warmth of summer finds me in the middle of winter. I hope it finds you too.
I was only 28, staring down a quarter-life crisis, convinced my life was already over. But as Juliet reminds us, it is only beginning.
I spent the whole day with myself, and I loved it.
The day didn’t go to plan. I ended up in a smoke shop, sitting on a couch, content to exist in the world. Later, I found myself at a strip club with my friend — she works there — and one of her coworkers asked if I wanted a private dance. I had never had one before.
Why? I was scared to ask. Scared to do it.
And reader — I did that thing.
It was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.
I owe thanks to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for giving me back to myself, even if only for a moment. It taught me that I am not stuck, and that I deserve to be seen — quietly.
I am not an intruder in this world. I am a witness to it. And so are you.
Being lost is nothing to fear — it means there is something waiting to be found.
Yours truly,
ad astra per aspera
P.S. This day was a small moment of grace in the storm of uncertainty I am still weathering. That is enough for now.
Instagram Hack: Share Posts to Your Story Like a Pro [Hindi]
Learn how to easily share Instagram posts to your story with this quick guide! 📱 Follow these simple steps to make your stories more fun and creative. Plus, don’t miss the bonus tip to share posts from other profiles like a pro. Make sure to check privacy settings and visibility tips to share safely. If you love Instagram tips like this, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to AI Expert Reviews! 😊
Instagram Hack: Share Posts to Your Story Like a Pro [Hindi]
Learn how to easily share Instagram posts to your story with this quick guide! 📱 Follow these simple steps to make your stories more fun and creative. Plus, don’t miss the bonus tip to share posts from other profiles like a pro. Make sure to check privacy settings and visibility tips to share safely. If you love Instagram tips like this, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to AI Expert Reviews! 😊
“White glaze and blue flowers emerged from the fire, and the flowers are clearly distinguishable from the glaze.” -Chinese proverb
Blue and white porcelain, also known as qinghua (青花), has been popular among emperors, aristocrats, and common people in China since the 14th century. More than thirty types of flowers and sixty different styles were used in original designs during this period. Unique combinations culminated in particular Chinese blessings on each porcelain vase. An intricate message from the gods; what could be more poetic than that? Among these patterns, the magnolia flower is favored by artists the world over. It’s an alluring flower, with a haunting origin. Legend tells the story of two lovers who lived in Lushan Mountain, Amu and Alan. They were separated by the governor, who upon seeing the beauty Alan, kidnapped her to his mansion. Torn, Amu sneaked into the night to rescue his beloved. In their escape attempt, they were cornered and forced to jump into the Wangjian River. The next day their bodies were discovered together, and thus were buried side by side in the forest. Years later an imposing flower tree blossomed on the burial site, and the locals called it the “Magnolia Tree”. The magnolia flower symbolizes fearlessness and bravery in honor of the couple’s unyielding love. It’s a reminder that nature will always find a way. By sharing the story, we preserve the legend, like cleaning a vase, keeping the story fresh and alive in our memory.
Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship [Rowlatt, Bee, Witwit, May] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship
Dr. May Witwit is a research fellow at the University of Bedfordshire. Her research interest includes Victorian literature, Victorians' translation of ancient Arabian poetry, Victorian anti-suffrage and the policy of British Empire. She is particularly interested in representation of Arab women in the British press 1850-1939 and whether the impressions recorded and published by British nineteenth century travelers and colonial administrators form the basis of today’s Islam-phobia and the stereotyping of Arab women.
