Σάββατο 30 Ιουλίου 2011

What I explored this week




I loved the exterior brickwork of this one








Someone was kind enough to leave a window open so that I could break in



 







That was lucky,because I would never dare to break in,say,through that basement window




 





Nothing much to see in there






But I got the feeling that the place used to be nice and cozy in its heyday


 


 
A passionate-but very bad at spelling-soul had written this plea to his sweetheart on one of the walls:


 






''Please do not abort our little baby,if you love me,don't you listen to what your mum says''



 




Love,peace and happy exploring 

Eirini

Παρασκευή 29 Ιουλίου 2011

18 things I wish I could tell my 18 year old self





Dear Eirini at 18,


Here is some advice that I believe will come in handy as you are starting out in your adult life:





1.Stop obsessing about your imperfections


There will come a time when you'll look at pictures of your 20 year old self and wish you could turn time back...So live it up now while you can:Enjoy your cellulite-free thighs/gorgeous ass/flat belly/perky boobs.Don't take them for granted because you won't have them for ever


2.Don't try to be like everyone else


Being yourself is alright.Being a freak is alright.Being normal can sometimes be very boring



3.Don't be a doormat

Loving someone doesn't mean you should sacrifice your individuality to please them or appease their bullshit.Set healthy boundaries from the beginning .Grow a pair and stand up for yourself or you'll never be respected



4.True love does exist

                     And it's somewhere out there waiting for you



5.A big part of love is loving yourself

You can never really love someone unless you learn to love yourself first



6.No amount of dreaming or daydreaming is ever lost

It will all amount to something in the end,I promise




7.No amount of studying or hard work is ever lost

It will all amount to something in the end,I promise




8.Don't leave for tomorrow the crazy stuff you can do today


Be outrageous and crazy and unpredictable while you can,because there will come a time when you'll be too overwhelmed by responsibilities and grown-up stuff to be in touch with your inner wierdness




9.Experiment,experiment,experiment


Experiment with everything in life.There is no other way to find out who you are and what you really like.Even bad experiment ideas are great,because you still learn something.




10.Getting into debt is the worst idea ever


Trust me,you don't need that credit card.Or that bank loan.No matter how noble the cause.You'll come to regret it bitterly in the years or decades to come.




11.You were not born in this world to live your life based on other people's expectations

No matter who those people are or how much they love you/you love them.Don't sacrifice your dreams for other people's sake.Your dreams are a gift fom God.Your dreams fulfilled are your gift to God.





12.Develop a life-long habit of listening to and trusting your gut


Trust your inner guidance system,you have everything you need to decide within your own heart.Be your own guru.Have a healthy distrust for those who pretend they are one





13.Making friends is the best investment you could ever make

And it all boils down to getting out there and showing people that you care





14.If you have to work for someone else,do so as a stepping stone to running your own business one day

Yes,most businesses fail within the first five years.Yes,there will be a global economic meltdown one day.But employment dependence for the rest of your life is the worst choice you can make,no matter where or how you live.Start out like this if you have to,so that you can gain experience and self-confidence,but quit as soon as you can and chase your own dreams instead of somebody else's





15.Travel a lot

Because there will come a time when you'll be so tied down in a hectic lifestyle that you simply won't be able to.So be a free gypsy now that you can.Explore the world and you'll come to find yourself along the way




16.Don't have children too early

Granted,because of raising them you'll be far wiser,more mature,loving and dependable than your friends who do not have kids at that age.But you will also have a hundred times the exhaustion,both physical and emotional,the worries,the financial burden and,as they grow up,the heartache as well.So go have a few adventures and live a care-free life first before you have those kids.Believe me,it's worth it





17.Make exercise a part of your daily routine

Just because your weight is at its lowest ever now,in spite of all that junk food you eat,doesn't mean that your good luck will go on forever.Weight keeps piling up almost imperceptibly as time goes by.So do yourself a favour and make working out a daily habit.Looking your best is a prerequisite to feeling confident and happy at all ages





18.Everyone who said that your 20's is the best decade of your life,lied


Thank Goodness for that!Life gets better and better as you get better,never forget that!



Bonus Advice:Everything is going to turn out allright in the end!







                                                          photos from here




                                                 Love,peace and hindsight


                                                                  Eirini




Τετάρτη 27 Ιουλίου 2011

Picture of the week









My son's Alex trip abroad to Croatia:his first solo trip with daddy.




In our family travelling with father abroad means you are no longer a baby.Rule of thumb:to be able to travel abroad with father,who is a tour guide,you have to prove you are no longer a baby.To be able to prove you are no longer a baby,you have to be able to carry your own suitcase around during the trip.










                                          Enjoy your summer!




                                      Love,peace and summer fun

                                                     Eirini





Τρίτη 26 Ιουλίου 2011

Tuesday Fun Quizz




Summer fun and a little quizz for today.


OK,so you are home alone and all of a sudden there are five things that need your immediate attention:


-The doorbell's ringing,someone's at the door

-The phone is ringing,you have to answer it

-The baby is crying in her crib (your own or the one you're babysitting )

-  Water is running from the kitchen tap (you forgot to turn it off)

-It has started to rain and there are clothes drying up outside (no,you don't have a tumble dryer)



Don't go on reading any further.Grab a piece of paper and write down what you'd do first,then second,third etc.Alternatively,if your memory is good,mark them in the order you'd attend to each of these emergencies and make sure you remember that order correctly.Don't think too much about it,or you'll miss the whole point of the quizz.Just write down or blurt out whichever you think you'd attend to first,second etc.




Done?Nice!This is a personality quizz that supposedly reveals your priorities in life.Each of these emergencies represent an important aspect of life and how you prioritise them.The one you chose to attend to first denotes-of course-what you believe is the most important of them all,the one that tales priority over anything else in your life.The last one is the one you are the least interested in and what comes in between is what's your no2,no3 and no4 priorities.


Ready for the explaining part?

Here it is: 


-The phone ringing is a symbol for Work

-The doorbell ringing is a symbol for Friends and Social life

-The baby crying stand for Children and Family

-The running tap stands for Sex

-The clothes is a symbol for Housework and Chores


How representative of your values in life is this quizz?Did it really reveal your true nature or not?What was your list like?Do tell me!And in case you are wondering,here's mine:



1st./Baby

2nd./Running water

3rd./Telephone

4th./The door

5th./The clothes


Yeah,I know,household chores are not at all high on my list of priorities!






Love,peace and fun

Eirini


                                            photos from here





Δευτέρα 25 Ιουλίου 2011

Self-confidence in two (almost) easy steps




Who or what determines your level of confidence in all areas of your life?


Is it the genes you were born with,your personality,the life you've had,your early childhood experiences or even your experiences in the womb?Who is responsible for how confident or not-so-confident you feel?


Hint:He/she is looking at you every time you  look at your reflection in a mirror.



 Building a strong,confident persona is your job and it comes with a lot of perks.
  


What perks?



If you are a man,you don't need me to tell you how women always prefer confident guys.It's never the handsome guy as much as the confident guy that gets the girl.Because women of all ages are naturally attracted to men who display self confidence.I guess it's an evolution thing:the stronger,more confident,more aggressive male of the herd always gets his pick of females.

Same holds true if you are a woman.Men are naturally attracted to strong,independent women,women they consider ''high value'',ones that know their worth and project it unashamedly to the world.A spineless little wimp is good for casual flings to guys,but they'll always form connections and fall in love with confident,independent women.There are men,of course,who prefer insecure girls,because they are deeply insecure themselves and they have to have convenient co-dependent partners around them to boost their ego.Would you want such a man as a partner?Doubt it,unless your ambition in life is to be tranformed into the doormat of his dreams.



Now don't mistake confidence for arrogance.There's a fine line between being an arrogant jerk or bitch and being a person confident in their skin.A rule of thumb:arrogant types have to be rude/aggresive/sarcastic to others,because they feel superior to all humanity and so have this entitlement mentality that is so offputting.A trully confident person on the other hand is secure enough in their identity,so they don't need to show others in a negative light to appear superior themselves.




Here's the double secret to building extraordinary self-confidence,no matter who you are:



-Systematically walk through your fears


Each time you walk through one of your fears,each time you get out of your comfort zone,no matter what results you get,you become stronger and more confident.First try it with little things.Then,as your faith in yourself gets stronger,get on to bigger,more important stuff.Identify those things that you'd like to try or have that sound or look too scary.Start with one,maybe the easiest.See how you feel.A warning:if you start with one that scares you big time but is also so enticingly appealing that you can't help beginning with it,(like I did with my homebirth),expect lots of miracles and blessings to come your way immediately afterwards!



 -Stop criticizing yourself and your actions all the time



All too often most of us beat ourselves up too much about almost everything.Women are especially good at that.

If you are honest with yourself,you'll admit that in all areas of your life that you are lacking in self-confidence,you keep putting yourself down mentally.It's like there's a constant inner dialogue or rather monologue going on in your mind;your mean,insecure lower self keeps repeating bad,negative stuff to you about you.And you believe it.Because,come on,we are usually honest to ourselves,aren't we?

No,we aren't.This isn't even your voice.It's years and years of conditioning or negative feedback you had early on.Maybe it was too many bad experiences,maybe overcritical parents,maybe a bad combination of both.Who cares?Stop whining like a baby about how unfair life has been to you,stop blaming it on everyone else except yourself!Start fighting back instead!


A few days ago I was at a pool bar with my two youngest sons.They were enjoying themselves in the water,I was close by,keeping an eye on them and taking pictures.Right out of the blue my youngest climbed out of the kids pool and started running towards the adults pool.There was no lifeguard or anyone supervising there and my son can't swim yet.I ran and dived after him to get him out,although he was smart enough to catch hold of the side of the pool and just float.Still,I am glad I was around because two years ago he almost drawned himself in ridiculously shallow sea waters while I was a few feet away and there were litterally hundreds of people around!

Anyway,back to our pool incident.When we both got out,I realised that I had tossed my camera aside right next to the water when I dived in.Inevitably,water was splashed all over it,the lens got soaked and the thing was rendered useless.It was my one and only,not to mention all time favourite camera,a handy little Canon that I particularly loved.

Now comes the beating up part.If anyone else I knew had gone through this,I would praise them for having the presence of mind to do what was right,namely save their kid.Instead,I immediately started criticising myself: ''You fool,why didn't you just leave the camera on a bench,or even give it to someone else to hold for you before you dived?And why did you have to take pictures in the first place?You should have been in that pool with your kid,enjoying the moment,instead !Serves you right!And what kind of malfunction is that you're suffering from,losing and breaking stuff like that all the time?''

See how self-defeating this is?And we do it much too often.But if you keep putting yourself down like that,then a/you start believing your negative,self depreciative rant and of course feel awful about yourself  b/others start thinking the same things about you,because you project those negative traits.Needless to say this is not at all conducive to self-confidence!In fact,it litterally kills our spirit in the process.

This is what I do in such cases:I start talking back to myself in the same manner:''You shut the f@ck up. I did what was best.If you think you can do a better job with taking care of four boys all on your own,two rebellious teenagers,an absent-minded pre-teen and a naughty preschooler for that matter,you are welcome to it!''

Refuse to feel guilt about anything!Choose right now,from now on,to NEVER EVER allow yourself or anyone else in the whole world to make you feel guilty about anything.If you know you did something wrong,sincerely apologise,take corrective action when possible,forgive yourself and forget about it! Guilt can practically sap your strength and deprive you of all power.That's why most religious leaders,now and in the past,are particularly clever at abusing this,because guilt-ladden individuals are pathetically easy to control.

The biggest secret to self confidence is to stop being so hard on yourself! Instead,look at every action you took,no matter what the outcome was,and honour yourself for taking it.We always do what we think and know is best at any given moment.So take some time every night before going to sleep to honour the actions you took on that day.Praise yourself for doing what you thought was best,promise to continue doing so,then forget all about them.Focus on the future instead.


If you are worthy of life on this planet,you are worthy of everything else.Honor that great gift of life by never ever doubting your own worth again.







                                                  Love,preace and confidence
                                                                 Eirini



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                                                        photos from here

Παρασκευή 22 Ιουλίου 2011

What I explored this week



  I love exploring old abandoned houses and buildings.



It's a sort of hobby for me.In fact,it is one of the things that make my day.

I've had this not-so-usual hobby ever since I was a kid.Whenever I'd spot an abandoned house I'd never seen before,I felt this rush of excitement other kids my age had when they were presented with a new toy.


Why I like exporing abandoned homes?


Well,when I was a kid I had no idea why.I just felt an irresistible urge to do so and so I did it.The fact that this hasn't changed with years means that it serves and fullfils a need of mine.I can only assume it is because I am kind of energy sensitive,I guess.Ever since I was little I could sense other people's and places' energy and draw conclusions about it.It was instinctive and I couldn't give a name to it,but that didn't make it less real.No,I am not a psychic.Or rather,if I am,then everyone else is a psychic too in that respect.Because we all have this ability.It's just that we don't use it and in time it becomes dormant and de-activated.?

So I am really into exploring old,abandoned homes because I love sensing the energy of those places.Just as a good photographer is thrilled by discovering an interesting topic.Did you know that places and objects hold the energetic imprint of previous owners and inhabitants?Going into abandoned houses and sensing the energy of people and events that took place there is just like reading the story of the place.Except in a story the logical part of our brain is activated.Plus,a story can be inaccurate,fake,incomplete,can be interpreted in different ways etc.

By sensing just the energy of a place the logical part of us is bypassed and what remains is pure emotion and feelings which is a much more powerful tool of understanding.Those feelings,if one is trained and willing,can be transformed into a story for the rational part of our brain,though this is rarely necessary or interesting enough for me to do.



In my bucket list I have this wish:

Wish # 650: Explore 50 abandoned houses in my town


And that's exactly what I am going to do,starting from now!






I've had my eye on this one for years,decades even.Partly because it was a sort of historic building,partly because my sister's house is in the same neighborhood.The building on the left-which I didn't explore- was part of a turkish hamam(communal bath) back when Greece was under turkish occupation.The whole place had so much overgrowth in front of it that it was practically like a jungle.But somehow the authorities decided to get rid of that so I finally had access to the separate house on the left.I explored it ten days ago.



A two-storey house,with an inner court yard,in keeping with Turkish tradition that wouldn't allow their women to be seen uncovered by passers by,even in their yard.They's just peep through  latticed windows.






The entrance ddoor to the inner yard is unlocked.I hate climbing through windows.Plus,there was no way to break through those windows.This is the view from the  inside of the inner yard.It was dark and looked like a prison.I wouldn't want to be spending all day long here,even if I didn't know any better.It gave me a feeling of being trapped.I was raised in a two-storey house with a very big open yard,including my mother's garden always full of flowers,a vegetable garden,hen and pigeon coops,rabbit houses,an orchard and lots of other shady trees.




This is the elevated porch with a flight of chairs leading to the front door of the house.There was a store room under the chairs,which I didn't dare explore.(too dark and I had to somehow crawl in there).






The ground floor was usually men's quarters in turkish houses.There is also a spacious kitchen and WC facilities.








This is the wooden staircase leading upstairs.I loved this,it reminded me of my own house.





When I started climbing those stairs,half way up,I realised it was so rickety and squeaky thatI shouln't risk it upstairs.When exploring old buildings,it is important to trust your gut,even the slightest twinge of fear is a warning sign that should be taken seriously.





Luckily,there was a (broken) path on the left inside that yard,leading to the back of the house.



I loved this staircase leading to the second floor.Probably gave to women direct access to their quarters,without having to cross men's quarters when there were visitors.There was a big fig tree growing all over the place.There were three fig trees in the garden of my childhood,both of the black and the white variety.Every August I would climb up there and eat those honey-tasting fruits until I gave myself a nice stomachache.






So I climbed up that staircase.This fig tree has grown wild,the fruit was not edible.There was also a nice grapevine tree climbing up the wall.






The door giving access to the upstairs rooms was open too.There were several rooms,now probably occupied occasionally by junkies or homeless people.There was also another WC and a locked room that I couldn't get into. 




The only thing I liked was this antique piece of furniture,obviously not as old as the house.



Though it was interesting,I really didn't like the vibes of the house.Unlike many others I 've explored,I couldn't wait to get out of there.Still,I am glad I explored it!






photo from here


                                                                        

                                                      Love and  peace

                                                             Eirini


                                                    Be my Facebook friend!

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