Bonne année à tout le monde!

Am back - after exactly an entire year away from writing.
It feels good to finally be back – for sporadic posts at least, I am hoping, given the events at present.

So much has happened within the past year. Some quick updates, for friends (and personal record, and posterity, too?) on what has transpired since January 2011. I took a break from work – a long-forged dream (and old goal) to pursue my M.A. back at my alma mater. It took quite a bit of courage to wrench myself away from the routines of work I’d slipped into by then, the familiar faces and expectations, the unfamiliar but surmountable new challenges to rise to. But even moreso, even as the official handling of affairs itself took awhile - it was the packing up, clearing away of my staff desk (of five-ish years of precious notes both created by and for my old kids, gifts, memories of hard work and well-spent time and toil), spending more fast-fading time with cherished colleagues, friends and students, and the goodbyes that remain evermore precious to mine heart.

With the onset of August 2011, I have begun my major adventure of postgraduate studies back at NUS. As before, I am blessed with awesome Professors and tutorial-mates as well, and even though our classes are mostly evening classes (which mean I get home pretty late into the night), I know that getting to be a student again – this temporary break from work, a sabbatical of sorts – is a blessing in its own right – and I have since resolved to cherish it by the day.

And I picked up French. Et le français est une belle langue, oui! J’aime le français♥ :) Another quiet dream of old – to keep learning languages – taken up, another sweet little adventure begun. And so, thanks to my lovely lessons in basic French, I do love speaking in my (admittedly, primitive) French and belting out fave songs – Pink Martini‘s gorgeous French – and even Italian songs are unmissable, do check them out when you can.

Also, picked up quite a wealth of knowledge (on photography, a latent interest until then), inspiration and sweet friendship through Instagram, a nifty iPhone photo-sharing app. Je savoure les petits aventures d’Instagram, aussi

Perhaps, many achievements of 2011 remain unsaid, but just one more: I have finally mastered the sari, I think. (En fin, ouais!) I’m no longer perplexed by the exacting demands of symmetry it seems to proclaim, and discover this newfound maneagability to be – strangely, I concur – very much like my reaction to…Tolstoy! Heh heh

Here’s to a blessed, brighter and more beautiful 2012, dear all! Bonne année à tout le monde! Take care and signing off with J’y suis jamais allé, a gorgeous track from Amelie, and composed by Yann Tiersen.
minerva*

To more beautiful mysteries

Hey all, here’s wishing all dear souls a lovely New Year, with many more beautiful mysteries and wonderment in life!

As for me, I began the new year watching the loveliest cast of Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Brandon Walters drove cattle across the beautiful Australian outback in Baz Luhrmann’s awesome “Australia.” Narrated as an uber-beautiful epic of love, courage and hope in a land rich with the traditional stories of the earth, it’s one of the most gorgeous movies of our time, truly.

Left me musing that… at the end of it all, what most of us are indeed looking for is the one who is able to share one’s pain and suffering, and accept us as ourselves, in this journey we take together.

On a more personal front, am going to keep to what I began in late November-December last year. Am proud to have tried something beyond my usual circles of comfort, and gone ahead to just give it a go to see how far I could enjoy the journey.

So, for this year, am gonna try to keep to this newfound joy in trying out hobbies that might have their own share of exciting mysteries, let’s see. And yes, I shall aim to be nicer (more forgiving, more relaxed towards trying the new) to myself this year.

Take care all!

Gratitude

Hey all,
Am thinking of a hiatus from this writing space for a while now.
This quote pretty much sums up what’s transpired over the last couple of eventful months:

If you’re feeling frightened about what comes next, don’t be.
Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places.
Be brave as it challenges you to exercise both your heart and your mind as you create your own path towards happiness, don’t waste time with regret. Spin wildly into your next action.
Enjoy the present, each moment, as it comes; because you’ll never get another one quite like it. And if you should ever look up and find yourself lost, simply take a breath and start over. Retrace your steps and go back to the purest place in your heart… where your hope lives. You’ll find your way again. – Gilmore girls

And so, this is what I shall hold on to: Everything happens in its own time. And, everything has its own purpose.

Just some updates for dearer souls here:
Am glad to say that these past two months have been an interesting ride. Much like the quote above, I’ve surprised myself considerably by stepping aside from the oft-travelled path and been trying for something new – a worthwhile experience, as it was.

While I do need to start writing again, I might not be doing so here, for quite awhile – but who knows what beautiful mystery the Future holds?

Until then, take care all & may we all be blessed with many more beautiful moments of wonderment and gratitude in our lives ahead.
Love, minerva*
p.s. To Dearer souls: I intend to still blog in brief (and be reached) at this fledgling site – Those Charming Gardeners – a very recently inspired space of Gratitude am trying out. Take care all.