Little Flutters

I need more feminine in my life. I just came back from a kitchen tea, which I recently found out is a bachelorette party where you buy kitchen items for the bride and drink tea.

I was resistant to the event. My track record with women-only meetings haven’t been the greatest.

At first I went on auto-pilot. I wanted to hide in the bathroom for the majority of the event, which is, if I’m frank, my default in an awkward social situation.

Everything was twinkling, tinkling, sparkling pink, beautifully coifed hair and sunset views of Sydney. It was too perfect. What if I made a sex joke? (Again, another default)

Half way through my version of hell, the sister of the bride gave a speech. She thanked everyone for coming and said

“As women, it’s such a rarity that we can come together to celebrate and support each other.”

A switch went out in my head.

I’m a proclaimed feminist and yet I was being sexist.

I had stereotyped these women as being defined by their motherhood. I let it go and started seeing them as people.

Granted, there was a lot of children and baby talk. But once I allowed myself to see past that, we started talking about our careers, our goals. Our love of salad bowls. It all mixed into this balanced, strong female energy. Something I had previously thought impossible. Independence. Balance. Passion.

The thing is, it’s probably been there all along. I’ve talked to these women for years. But it was the first time I saw them as people. And I’m grateful. It fills me with hope about my place in the world.

Kona, Hawaii, © Tash Keuneman

Since I’ve moved back to Sydney, I haven’t been able to find a perfect yoga class. I was feeling lethargic, out of shape and unmotivated.

Out of habit, I subscribed to Yoga Journal as soon as I had a steady address. Just doing that little thing made a huge difference to my home practice.

As I read, I practiced. And after I was done with the magazine, I still kept it around as a reminder to myself.

Surround yourself with the things you love and you want to do more often. In that same frame of mind, go around your house and omit things you feel no longer serve you.

I know as a fact that if I buy a pack of ice cream, I will justify eating one a day. So I choose not to buy them.

It’s the little things like this that make up a life.

While we were in Hawaii we made an effort to go swimming with wild dolphins. Largely because the last time we tried it was in a little dingy on the waves of Zanzibar. I spewed five times in the span of an hour and Wendell felt so bad he proposed.

This time, we were in a bigger boat. We were dropped a couple of kilometers away from the island and started swimming towards dolphin pods. There’s nothing like looking down into the ocean and seeing pod after pod of dolphins flash past you. We could hear their clicks of speech. It was amazing.

Our snorkelling leader explained that dolphins have a protective layer that stops bacteria. When humans touch dolphins, that layer gets removed. Dolphins at Sea World etc be on antibiotics their whole lives because of this.

I find dolphins particularly moving after watching the Cove. I’m not one for cutesy dolphin tattoos and stuffed toys, this documentary really opened up my eyes to how we treat the animal that everyone thinks of quite fondly.

I’m inspired by the Hawaiian people. They take it on themselves to save their culture and environment. There’s a real pride in their feeling of responsibility. I admire that.

We’re half made of water. We can always do more for the ocean.

I’m thinking about more that I can do.

Him: Together we’ll make one good person.
Me: Why, because you think long term and I think short term?
Him: No, because I think a lot and you get things done.

Thanks love.

If you enjoy eating seafood and would like to learn about what you can sustainably enjoy with a squeeze of lemon and what’s in danger of going extinct, you might like this seafood guide.

ME AT NINE, PERFORMING TO MADONNA IN SUMMER ’91! from Robert Jeffrey on Vimeo.

Best. Music. Video. Ever.