Auld Lang Syne

       

   
My 364th & final post of 2011

  Let's hope 2012's a good un' :)  

   

Have Yo'self A Merry Little Christmas

     

   

What The World Needs Now

Bought & Sold

   

    

Amor Di Mondo

  

R.I.P. Cesária Évora, 'La Diva aux Pieds Nus',

who died last Saturday aged 70 years

  

Nicknamed the 'Barefoot Diva' for performing sans footwear, she was one of the best-known international practitioners of the Cape Verdean musical genre known as 'morna'.

  

On a personal note, Évora was the soundtrack to a surprise Latin-themed birthday dinner thrown for me by some thoughtful friends, a few years back.

  

Emotions

   

  

No Light, No Light

 

     

Oh Florence - how pleased I am that your 
second album is equally as good as the first, 
and your fabrics just as diaphanous and lovely.

 

    

        

    

In typically celestial form:
  

        

Drink To That

   

Hot Port...Nnnnmmm

   

     

War

Yesterday, December 15th, marked 

the formal ending of the Iraq War.

This brilliant video pretty much 

sums it up:

   

Wind Of Change

   

   

Anywhere Is

   

Two Thousand Miles

   

My all-time favourite Christmas song/video,

especially when snowy weather threatens:

  

'He's gone...2,000 miles is very far.

The snow's falling down. It's colder day by day.

I miss you.

The children were singing: 'He'll be back at Christmas time'.

And these frozen and silent nights,

Sometimes in a dream, you appear.

Outside under the purple sky, 

diamonds in the snow sparkle.

Our hearts were singing, it felt like Christmas time.

2,000 miles is very far through the snow

I'll think of you, wherever you go.'

  

    

Frame By Frame

  

Snapshots of Lisbon
August 2011

   

   

 

    

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

   

 

  

 

  

  

Bad

  

   

Wouldn't It Be Good

 
Bit of a mind for some
classic Nik Kershaw, of an evening.

   

     

   

Where Is My Mind Vol. II

   

  

Dead And Gone

An abridged version of a link borrowed from a friend

on the most common regrets of the dying:

  

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Source article here

   

Bonkers

   

  

Float On

  

  

  

Carry Me Home

 

Dear Santa...

       

   Dandelion Daydreamer @ Etsy

   

 Topshop
    

Shutterbug
      

Bottega Veneta @ Net-A-Porter

 

Accessorize ♥