zen

Nothing Like A Coffee And Some Time

I’m sitting on a lovely, ever-so-slightly battered brown sofa in my favourite bar (Cafe Cyrano) in Almería, my recently adopted ‘big city’, listening to my new favourite album (‘Hey Mr Ferryman’ by Mark Eitzel) with a cortado coffee and an orange juice.

Lovely & slightly battered old sofa

I’ve just put my car in for a service. Not a big deal for most people, but not having owned a car until recently, it feels like a strangely grown up thing to be doing. I dropped the car off at 9.30am and am told it will be 3 hours, so I’ve popped into the city to mooch around and am really enjoying it as it’s not something I can really do in the village where I now live.

I’ve been walking around for a while enjoying the buzzy morning atmosphere of a working day here. As with many cities, there are lots of ‘things to do’ here, some of which I’ve done and others that I will do, but as is often the case, I find myself doing a similar thing ie ‘not very much’ to some people.

But the joy I get from simply sitting in a bar with a coffee, listening to music on headphones, writing, reading and reflecting on nothing in particular is immeasurable.

Some people these days might call this being mindful. I don’t know why doing this works for me and maybe it’s best I don’t know, so in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the positive and calming energy it gives me.

Hope you’re having a good day too…

Bring It On…

I haven’t posted here for a while. Not for any particular reason. It just kind of happened and maybe we need time away from things or even people to reflect and appreciate them more when they come back. I always wanted this blog to be about rallying against the negativity and cynicism in the world by seeing and appreciating the positive that is in the smallest things. Today I felt the need to post…

 

I can’t believe that given my privileged position that I’m saying this, but I haven’t been happy recently. One of the primary reasons is that I got annoyed and frustrated by something somebody said and after much dwelling on this, it became a thing. Or more to the point, I let it become a thing until it sapped my energy to the point where I couldn’t see anything else for a while. And then over the last couple of days, I have been lucky enough to have been in touch with close friends I have and new friends who I have only known for a short time and the lovely thing is that I have realised that I am happy. And very much so.
 

View from house.JPG

View from my house

There will always be negative people saying negative things in the world and at this moment in time, politically the world is going through some major changes which are worrying. And yet, I feel I’m coming through the other side of this fog through which I’ve been navigating of late to see clearly how lucky we are and how lucky I am. There’s a lot in the world to rally against, but perhaps

 

if we focus more on what positive contribution we can make to the world, then the naysayers and the negative world they live in, can be beaten.

 

I sit writing this in my new studio (aka converted garage) listening to records which I have recently rediscovered and albums which I have always loved. My lovely wife Mrs Cortado and our recently adopted dog Grace are asleep in the warmth of the house next door – it may be the south of Spain, but it still gets chilly at night in November – and I’m listening to Joni Mitchell and reflecting on where we really are today.

 

We moved to the magnificent city of Granada in the south of Spain three years ago and almost six months ago, moved to where we live now, a tiny village in the province of Almeria, still in the south of Spain, which is unquestionably an outstandingly beautiful part of the world. One of the wonderful things about saying that sentence is that I/we always hoped of living ‘abroad’ and after some time in Italy, we chose Spain and love our life here. It’s not perfect. Nothing is. But the good far outweighs the bad. For example, we live in a beautiful place, have met some very kind and friendly people since we came here and are now lucky enough to have some close friends.
 

Grace Standing (1)

Grace

We loved our life in London, but we left at a time that was right for us and now that life seems like such a long time ago. We have worked to have the life that we have and though at times, it can be a challenge, I appreciate the incredible opportunity that this experience is. Some people are not open to change as it can be difficult, however I can now see that some people never want to or are simply too afraid to change and maybe that works for them. However, as a result of recent experiences, I am now reminding myself not to permit others negative filters and perspectives to distort my choices and also to have more faith in my own decisions.

 

I am hugely thankful for our life and every day, we still look at each other as if we have somehow moved into some other parallel time continuum and are living someone else’s life. But as each day passes, I see this is our life now and after nearly three years away from the ‘normality’ of our almost twenty-year old London lives, this is now the new normal and London has become the distant, strange, exotic place which is nice to visit for a few days, but then you want to get back home. In my twenties, I never thought I would say that, but I’m now in my late forties and it feels perfectly natural.

 

We’ve recently had some work done on the house that is coming to an end and the changes have made living here feel quite different and in an incredibly positive way. Perhaps it wouldn’t be that big a deal to many, but they feel more significant. It’s not just that I have my new studio, the whole place has more of a Zen feel with more space and natural light and it’s almost as if we are starting a new chapter of our lives in our ‘new’ house.
 

And so, although over the past few weeks, I have felt somewhat distant from our life here, finding the smallest things frustrating and also missing the urban-ness of the city, reflecting on recent experiences and especially sitting here now listening to the recently released late and incredibly great Leonard Cohen album – which is wonderful – I feel so much stronger to be able to deal with whatever comes my/our way.

 

bruce-lee

 

So now I say, bring on the naysayers and bring on the negativity. Like Bruce Lee said – be like the water. And if it worked for Bruce Lee, I’m happy with that too.

One Thing At A Time

You would think that it would be easier to do one thing at a time, but how many people do you see who are doing two or perhaps more of the following everyday things at the same time?:

– chatting
– reading/looking at mobile phone/tablet
– communicating (making a phone call/sending an email/text/Whatsapp)
– listening to music
– eating/drinking
– driving/cycling/walking (crossing roads)

While they are doing some these things simultaneously, they are not focusing on any one of them with all their attention and in the case of driving, cycling and walking, there could even be quite dramatic consequences.

Everyone seems to be in a rush to get things done quickly, but what is the point if you are not doing any of them well?

People are also missing out on the very real benefits of getting the full effect of the conversation they are having with their friend if they are constantly being distracted by social media notifications. And not only that, but they are also essentially saying that the person sending the email or making the call is more important than the person in front of them who made the effort to be there. So the question here is, what could you prioritise?

Maybe everyone’s attention spans have shifted more than ever since the advent of the internet and mobile phone technology, but surely more choice is a good thing, isn’t it? Some people talk about being better at multitasking than others and that may be true and sometimes even necessary, however at times when you have a choice, what could you focus on more intently and mindfully to get more benefit from it?

Do you want to get things done well or do you just want to get more things done?

When did you last listen to music without doing anything else? Or read a book in silence? When did you last stop to look around you and really absorb your surroundings? What did you notice that you may have not seen or experienced because you were doing something else?

With all the distractions of the modern world, I accept it can be challenging as it is something which I constantly face too, however what’s stopping you trying to focus on one thing at a time? Maybe, just the once. And see how you go.

I look forward to hearing how you found it.

Want To Be Immortal?

For those following this blog, you will know I’m quite a big music fan, but you may not know that I have also been writing and recording songs for many years. I’ve released 3 albums in the past few years with the last album ‘Departures’ by Blue Angel being released 2 years ago and have been working on a number of songs over the past few months.

This track ‘To Become An Immortal’ samples anarchist, tai chi guru, author and friend, the teapotmOnk Paul Read talking about Lao Tzu and Taoism. Hope you like it!

 

 

In addition to writing about inspiring positive simplicity, Away From The Noise is also the name of one of my music projects. Previous projec​ts/ban​ds and albums are:

Blue Angel ‘Depar​tures’ (2013) / Blue Angel Facebook

Blame Jack (2009)

Calmer ‘Melt’ (2001)

 

If We Were Having Coffee… What’s Next Is Now

If we were having coffee, I’d say that moving to a new area where you don’t know anybody can be a challenge and moving to a new country even more so. Although my Spanish is reasonable, there can still be a language and cultural barrier at times which can be frustrating, but that’s part and parcel of moving to a new country. There are inevitable a few downsides, however there are also enormous advantages and fundamentally, this is the choice we have made and we are very happy in our ‘new’ home in the south of Spain.

 

One of the most challenging things about moving to a new place where you don’t know anybody is getting to know people and socially ‘starting again’ which can be both a hugely exciting and challenging prospect. We’ve made a few (Spanish and English-speaking) friends in the 18 months we have been here which has been lovely, although sometimes there are good days and bad days, but that’s life and happens wherever you are regardless of your location.

 

Moving to Andalucia has been a dream for such a long time and now we have realised it, I’ve recently been struggling to see what’s ‘next’, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to become clear that the ‘next thing’ is in fact now. Right in front of me. Really obvious perhaps, but there you go. I got round to it eventually. In my own time.

 

So, unlike other times when I’ve looked beyond now and today in favour of a supposedly more exciting and interesting tomorrow, I’m choosing who I am, where I am and with who I am here and now. Maybe there are benefits in getting older after all.

 

And now I know that what’s next is now, I wonder what’s next?

 

The Smiths never wrote a song called ‘What’s Next Is Now’, but they did write the glorious ‘How Soon Is Now’. Enjoy…

 


 

The title of this post is from something I saw on Suzie81Speaks. The ‘If We Were Having Coffee’ series was created by Part Time Monster. Share your coffee posts on Twitter every Saturday with #WeekendCoffeeShare

How To Get Away From The Noise?

After living in London for 17 years, my wife and I decided to move to Granada in the south of Spain in 2014 to get ‘away from the noise’. Most people assume that the ‘noise’ was the urban-ness of the millions of people and the traffic chaos of the big city and to some extent that’s true, however in reality, it was more about the noise of our lives in general.

We just wanted to slow things down and have more time and space to travel, breathe, think and just be. And live in the sunshine and glory of Granada and the south of Spain of course.

It sometimes feels that our lives here have changed beyond recognition and yet at times, it also feels like it hasn’t changed at all as we of course still do ‘normal’ things like the laundry and the weekly shopping. However, one of the most fundamental changes is that Mrs Away From The Noise and I have more time here for our individual selves to pursue our own interests and also for each other.

Seychelles-Island

In hindsight, I’ve always enjoyed being ‘somewhere else’ in my ongoing search to get away from the noise and have regularly mentally, emotionally and physically escaped to places of tranquility because they are beautiful places to be, however I also learnt a long time ago that escaping or changing your geography is not the solution to whatever may trouble you. The usual insecurities and problems tend to follow you. They won’t change unless you do. Wherever and whoever you are, this is an ongoing battle.

Getting ‘away from the noise’ has meant that I now have time to do things I enjoy including songwriting, travelling, teaching English, exploring new interests such as minimalism and writing two blogs Cortado Ingles and this one.

As for the origin of the blog name, I’ve been writing songs for a number of years and a common theme has been wanting to be ‘somewhere else’ and the name ‘Away From The Noise’ has also been around for some time as a potential song title. So when I was looking for a name for this blog, it not only seemed to fit from a sound and meaning perspective, but it also felt like a part of me as it had been with me for a while. Since starting the blog in October 2014, I also find myself learning a lot, both as a part of writing, editing and publishing and also from other bloggers in the community.

In fact, the more I write on the blog, the more I learn about the benefits of being present and living in the moment as opposed to being or wanting to be elsewhere.

So, there you go, that’s the origin of the blog name and why I enjoy writing this blog.

I hope you find it gets you away from the noise too…

This post was written in response to the WordPress Daily Prompt as part of Blogging101 challenge.