That Feeling of Content

“Life is a big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.”

– Danny Kaye

It’s February – the last few weeks of summer, the time of crazy weather, and my birthday month. As for the weird weather conditions – seriously, this was the first year in the last I can’t remember how many that the weather was actually very pleasant on the day. All the previous birthdays were the parade of extremes – either torrential downpour and 100% humidity, or 15 degrees and cold and miserable rain, or 45 in the shade. That 45-degree weather forced us to book last-minute tickets to Tassie for my birthday a couple of years ago, where we spent an amazing weekend of wine tasting, photography, and enjoying refreshing 9 degrees at sunrise. Ah, the sweet memories of spontaneous trips – we should all get away on a whim more often!

But this year Sydney just sparkled. I spent the afternoon wandering around The Rocks, attended the exhibition of mind-bending, mega-inspirational work of Anish Kapoor at MCA, then sat on the grass and enjoyed the view of the Opera House across Sydney Cove, and the gentle warmth of setting sun.  Feeling blessed and content. And then I photographed my happy face to etch that feeling into my memory.  Here it is, that photo from three weeks ago, on the day I turned another year older, surrounded by the dazzling waters of the harbour and my favourite soft late afternoon light.

That quote at the top of the post is something I try to remind myself of daily. Because life is a work of art indeed. And you are the one with buckets of paint and brushes in your hands.

Here are few more pictures from that day. Hope you all had a beautiful summer. And I am so looking forward to what autumn will bring.