photo: Otago peninsula, one is never very far from the sea.
I love water in every shape or forms : streams, rivers, lakes
ponds (and water lilies), the sea, the shore, the beach, the rocks by the water, the sound of running water, having a bath (when there is a bath), showers, I like to go to the pool, the spa. I wish I could surf, but I will never go in a submarine, nor will I scuba dive.
*posted in 2021, edited in 2026 (photo and text)
Photo: When this tree begins to shed its leaves, one can admire the complexity of the intertwining of its branches, somewhat akin to humans.
Freeing my personality from its unnecessary layers to reach the core of my being is an endless exercise. Discoveries occur in joy, but not exclusively, and surprisingly, most often through the simplest gestures and events of daily life.
*always inspired by Edouard Leve
What is referred to in English as « small talk » (an expression I really like) is not my forte, but at Tahuna (Nelson beach), I surprise myself engaging in it without the pain I tend to feel in such occasions when I bump into more and more bathers (99.5% of whom are women) who tend to extend their usual swimming season during the winter months. We share our knowledge about the water temperature, warmer or colder today than yesterday, warmer or colder this year than last year, warmer or colder at high or low tide, its quality (better in winter, less good after rain), whether the said bather dips her head in the water or not, whether she comes every day regardless of the temperature or not, the difference that the sun makes when one is in cold water or when one gets out of the water, how one swims, towards the horizon if one is a good swimmer (not me) or if one swims parallel to the shore, particularly if one is alone. All that small talk suits me.
photo : harmonise oneself with the seasons, like the body with the mind, Ile d’Orléans.
My mind and body have led parallel lives until the day I underwent an exhausting surgery, six years ago, that forced me to become acquainted with my body, in order to relearn everyday life. I also had to learn to listen to the signals it sends me. I gradually rediscovered myself, but I sometimes had to accept small losses that seemed permanent. Among other things, a lingering cervical pain that woke me at night, which became part of the new person I had become, or the dizziness I experienced when I looked up to watch in the trees (searching for birds, of course). When I occasionally realise that a certain pain or inconvenience, which I believed had become permanent, has disappeared, although I remember that the body will always have limits and weaknesses, I also marvel at its ability to rejuvenate when treated with kindness.
*always inspired by Edouard Leve
photo : autumn colours shine in a special way, Outaouais
I revel in the repetition of the simplest gestures: getting up and seeing the sun, going for a walk, drinking a cup of coffee, feeling at home when I open my eyes in the morning. Routine, in other words.
*always inspired by Edouard Leve
