Tag archive: lifestyle

Thoughts about lifestyle …

Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash.com

Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash.com

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
~ Siddartha Guatama Buddha

Living life in a style which becomes you …

Snow lifestyleWhen people talk lifestyles, the accompanying pictures often have deck chairs – but also palm trees, poolside waiters and drinks with cocktail umbrellas propped in the top.  This photo, taken outside a restaurant in Telluride CO, was not posed.  There were others occupied by skiers taking in some sunshine, but the waiters and exotic drinks were absent.  So, you will notice, were the crowds.  It was a gorgeous day and I think the closest run was called “see forever” which aptly fits this view.

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A time for past reflections & future projections

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash.com

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash.com

It’s that time of year when the calendar rolls over to a new year and we consider the achievements of the year past, and plan for those ahead. There is always talk of new year’s resolutions and goal setting. This requires you to know where you are headed. To have a purpose and ideas to achieve them. What if you don’t?

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How being in the forest is good for your health

Bamboo forest FB4

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Kyoto

While in Japan, we went to Kyoto and visited a bamboo grove at Arashiyama. It was quite lovely walking through the grove and looking up at the tall bamboo trunks that seemed to go for ever. It was peaceful and soothing but little did I appreciate the extent of the health benefits it offered.

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What a new ski season brings

Photo credit - http://www.mthotham.com.au/

Photo credit – http://www.mthotham.com.au/

In less than a month, we will be back in the snow – atop Mt Hotham. The start of a new season brings excitement, hopes and challenges. We are looking forward to resuming our residence in this familiar place and to embracing what the 2017 Australian winter will bring.

The people
For us, returning to an Australian ski resort like Mt Hotham is like returning to a favourite vacation place. You revisit your favourite spots and seek out the familiar faces of people who frequent them. There will be the returners, the new staff and the space left by absent friends.

There will be much laughter, hugging and hand-shaking. Meetings, inductions, pot-lucks and famils will help welcome newcomers into the mountain ways, social groups and community rituals. Catch-ups and chats will reveal the adventures and experiences had between seasons.

The resort
There will be new things to discover – new businesses, new watering holes and eateries. Where will  you get the best coffee? Which venue has the best music?  What’s changed with the ski runs? What are the new snow-making facilities? Are there other changes in the resort?

A new perspective on a familiar place
Having returned from working in Japan, in a different style resort, I wonder how this new perspective on Mt Hotham will be? I will be working in the resort full-time, returning to live “in the bubble” again. After being in the Niseko region where everything was new and different – job role, resort organisation, snowfall, language and culture. This one is our home resort. It presents a chance to reconnect with friends, to reengage with the people who make up the community that we enjoy belonging to and to bask in the beauty of this part of the country.

Engaging with familiar folk and places is like receiving a warm embrace. You have a place. You contribute. You are liked, perhaps needed. It’s not that this is not true of other places. There is something special about your home resort though. That and the temporal nature of ski seasons and their iterations that build connection. You recombine with other like-minds interested in living the snow life. You experience the highs and lows of the season together and then go your separate ways again.

People ask, “Is it enough?”
People ask me if this lifestyle offers enough to keep me interested and fulfilled. I enjoy the spirit that goes with communities like these. I enjoy living in cities but am probably a country girl at heart. Combine that with the loveliness of the snowy environment and it is a delightful backdrop for a period in which I can try new things and meet new people. Bring on the delights that lie ahead in 2017!

Japan – a country of contrasts

Samurai mask

Samurai warrior head dress

Japan is a beautiful country. The food, the manners, the dress and the traditions are all about politeness, the aesthetic, elegance and honouring hierarchy.  Yet at the same time there is a brash, zany other side to the place as well.

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Secrets to longevity

Photo credit - Lotte Meijer via unsplash.com

Photo credit – Lotte Meijer via unsplash.com

Research shows that longevity is correlated 10% with genetic factors and 90% with lifestyle ones. What is that you have to do to live a longer life? 

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