Fake it ’til you make it…

/ sunnyrap / 3 Comments

is the motto of a very good friend of mine and I’ve decided to try and put it into practice

The principle is this: if you’re feeling down for whatever reason, or you’re hit by ennui or that malaise that seems to hang around every so often, don’t do what seems most tempting – to me anyway. Which is to slouch around, go home as soon as possible, lie on the couch and watch rubbish TV (made even more rubbish by the fact that here in Cairo, it’s next to impossible to get your hands on a TV guide). Or indulge in a bar or three of Green and Black’s milk chocolate (undoubtedly the finest milk chocolate in the world) which I did when I was back in London earlier this year

No. Throw your shoulders back, adopt a swagger and walk around as if you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Force yourself to go out, to meet people – one of the last things I feel like doing right now – and to laugh.  Apparently there’s some scientific evidence (isn’t there always?) that making yourself laugh releases all sorts of positive endorphins in your body

http://www.googobits.com/articles/1940-laughter-is-good-for-you-the-benefits-of-laughter-therapy.html

 I know it’s true and I know that meeting new friends, or simply laughing with old ones, is one of the quickest ways to make yourself feel better.  It’s just hard to shake off that ennui enough to want to try sometimes 

Fabulous at forty?

/ sunnyrap / 6 Comments

I go through two schools of thought on this one.

There are times when I think – and feel – the distance I’ve come, the fact that I know myself and I’m more comfortable in my own skin than I’ve ever been, that I look better – and God knows I dress better – than I did when I was younger (on that note, I’m in awe at how groomed young girls are these days. My teenage make-up attempts were unmitigated disasters – I still remember the time I went for a free make-over and had to get the tube home with blue mascara and green eyeshadow).  

And then it hits me that there are so many milestones that I’ve failed to achieve and I’m filled with fear.  My biological clock is ticking louder than ever.  I don’t know if it’s because I desperately want a child or I desperately still want  the option to have one.  I do know – or I believe – that having a child will make me a better person, or more specifically, a less selfish one, with less time to worry about the petty things that take up far too much time and energy now  (anti-aging  products, anyone?)  There’s got to be more to life than worrying about grey hairs and my failing eyesight and whether I still look younger than the next woman.

The world is not kind to ageing spinsters…

Hello world!

/ sunnyrap / 1 Comment

I’m dedicating my first ever blog to Nick Clegg.

Just a week ago, I was sitting in my local London pub with friends, having my usual farewell dinner before returning to Cairo, when conversation turned to the upcoming election and who we’d each be voting for.

A very good friend declared that she’d be voting for the Lib Dems which provoked an inner – if not an outer – chuckle.  Why on earth would anyone vote for a party that had absolutely no chance of real power? A party that represented to me the utmost in earnest, wishy-washy mediocrity, led by a man who I scornfully referred to as Cameron-lite.

I stand duly chagrined in the corner.  I didn’t watch all of that historic debate but it’s clear that Clegg was the clear winner. It’s put a much-needed shot of adrenalin into this election and the idea of change – real change – has proved more exciting than I could possibly have imagined.  Like most Brits, I’m tired of the tedious dichotomy of Tory-Labour politics and the relentless, and hypocritical, centrism of both parties.  

Of course, the fact that a vote for the Lib Dems would almost certainly guarantee a Labour victory does fuel my fervour. Despite my disillusionment with Labour, the alternative – a Tory government led by a spin doctor – is much, much worse. And if Clegg does do the unthinkable and get into power, then good luck to him. He can’t be any worse than the status quo.