My Lucky Number

Today is Friday the 13th. It is also my husband Patrick's birthday.

Up until meeting him, I believed 13 to be an unlucky number. Oh how wrong I was.

Patrick is more than my husband. He is my mentor, confidante, best friend, sidekick, travel buddy, counsellor, business partner and of course, my most desirable lover.

He is also my No.1 fan, so I know he'll be reading this (won't you?).

Patrick believed in me when I had lost all faith in myself. He reminds me of my greatness - who I was and who I want to be, which makes me who I am. He shines the light when all I see is darkness. He gives me strength, courage, confidence, balance and a fair share of belly laughs. Patrick is my hero, my love, my saving grace, my lucky number.

So today, on this birthday, I want to dedicate this post to the man behind the woman...

Thank you Patrick for noticing that I was miserable living a life that I thought I 'should' be living. Thank you for liberating me by supporting my transformation and self expression. Thank you for your endless encouragement as I create a life that is authentically me. Thank you.

Until tomorrow, take time to give thanks to your lucky number.

Grace xx

PS. This photo was taken in front of the world's most famous love monument, the Taj Mahal, in 2006. I thought it was appropriate for my personal monument of love.

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Happy 100th Blog Post!

This is my 100th post - can you believe that?

Today also marks 101 days since embarking on Project Grace 2010, which I think is equal cause for celebration, albeit a virtual one.

In case you're thinking this doesn't add up, you might recall I took the first weekend off, then did a catch up post called The Polyfilla.

So how do we virtually celebrate?

We could eat virtual cake and not have to worry about sugar, wheat, gluten, fat, dairy or how high's the GI (Glycemic Index).

We could virtually drink the finest French Champagne - how about Krug? or Louis Cristal? Why not both? We don't have to worry about the price, getting tipsy or waking up with a hangover.

Sometimes it's nice living in this virtual world. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I love blogging so much. Right now you're in my world and I'm in yours. Physically, we could be a gazillion miles away and yet virtually, we couldn't be any closer.

As with all celebrations, it's time to say thank you speeches at the end. I'm all for short speeches, so here goes...

Thank you for joining me on my journey. Thank you for being by my side. Thank you for standing up for me when I was beating myself up. Thank you for showing compassion and love when I was going through hardship. Thank you for your suggestions and ideas. Thank you for contributing and allowing me to realise I am not alone... and that I'm not crazy.

Most of all, thank you for allowing me to be the full spectrum that makes me - Me.

Until tomorrow, and the next hundredth post, thank you for being You.

Grace xx

PS. Since starting Project Grace 2010 I've completed a web design course, studied French level one and two, learnt Bollywood dancing, attained my First Aid certificate and lost over 22cms (8.8inches) from my body. All in all, a great result from such an inspiring project. I leave for France next Monday, which I'm sure will launch an exciting start to the next chapter - the second 100 days.

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The fabric of life

Why do we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries every year?

Granted, there are some cultures that don't celebrate them, however I can only speak for myself and on behalf of those like me.

What is it that we are really celebrating?

As years go by, I care less for gifts and more about those I choose to share these celebratory times with.

To me, these annual celebrations are a cause for reflection. It's like stopping midway trekking to look back and see how far you've come. It's not about reversing or dwelling in the past, a few pensive moments are quite enough.

I love to create experiences where we can (justifiably) put our world on pause and fully indulge in the present for such occasions. By creating special moments, we honour the historical happenings of our lives.

We are no less important than those we dedicate a minute's silence to.
Remember that.

We're often reminded to stop and smell the roses - but in reality, how many times do we do that? Our annually recurring celebrations are wonderful opportunities to pencil in some time for ourselves and those we love. If we can't stop to do that, then we really are walking past the most fragrant rose garden without taking so much as a sniff.

Since I started purposefully creating special moments in honour of celebrations, I have noticed that with each passing year the memories become cumulative.

It's like decorating a piece of fabric with beaded embroidery. Each day is a stitch and on the 365th needle, a new sparkly bead is added. While each bead is beautiful in its own right, it's their clustering that make them really spectacular. What's lovely is that they're all joined by a common thread - and that is the fabric of our lives.

Until tomorrow, may you continue to decorate your fabric and infuse it with the sweet perfume of roses.

Grace xx