New 101 things in 1001 days (2023 start)

After a decade of not coming back to this list, living life through various struggles and valuable experiences, I came back learning that without even knowing I have completed some of the goals I have set up for myself 10 years ago. I haven’s completed many, but there is never too late they say 😊

Some of the goals I do not wish to complete anymore and I am glad I have never done so as I became a different person with different dreams and hopes. Here is my new list of 101 things to be completed in 1001 days. Maybe I will complete them, maybe I never come back to this list for a decade again and maybe I loose interest in some, but today I can certainly say these are dreams reflecting who I have become until today, dreams what are in back of my head from very early days and dreams what are more coming from the heart rather then mind.

Some are more practical, some are truly inner desires and some are try-outs I might enjoy. Let’s see about this one in 2026.

Start: 7.7.2023

Finnish: 3.4.2026

  1. Live in mountains in a cottage/small house
  2. Have a dog or cat
  3. Have a pet bird
  4. Get back to horseback riding
  5. Build therapy/wellbeing centre with horses
  6. Run a marathon
  7. Run a half marathon
  8. Run an (ultra) trail marathon
  9. Build successful private practice
  10. Make long distance hikes in Scotland/UK
  11. Make long distance hike elsewhere
  12. Live on my own
  13. Keep the blog running (1 blog every week)
  14. Keep video creating regularly (2x a month new video or more often)
  15. Make another art exhibition
  16. Finnish ‘events of the world’ exhibition
  17. Keep stable close group of friends
  18. Visit different continent
  19. Camp on my own
  20. Live in a lighthouse
  21. Have a garden
  22. Live minimalistic life constantly – meaning make constant steps to live one
  23. Go to a guided expedition through mountains somewhere in the world
  24. Visit Tibet
  25. Visit Canada
  26. Create a herb first aid kit
  27. Have a herbs garden
  28. Have motorbike driving licence
  29. Buy canon camera and make a lot of photographs
  30. Finnish started book
  31. Learn new habits (20)
  32. Read 5 spanish books
  33. Experience sunrise and sunset in one day
  34. Go do snowboarding in High Tatras and Alps
  35. Start penpals again and regularly exchange letters
  36. Go to a dance school/class
  37. No more bread in my diet (or only little part)
  38. Go to have a massage
  39. Have an earing on the top of my ear
  40. Loose weight to 55kg
  41. Start learning playing piano
  42. Start learning playing violin again
  43. Read all the books in my library what I have not read yet
  44. Write a letter to myself what I think will happen in 5 years
  45. Answer all the 50 questions that will free your mind http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/07/13/50-questions-that-will-free-your-mind/
  46. See aurora
  47. Find out 100 things what make me happy
  48. Do fruit day once a week for a year
  49. Do fasting at least one day
  50. Learn Scottish accent
  51. Visit Prater in Vienna
  52. Try surfing
  53. Do hiking in Czech Krkonose hills
  54. See the top of the hill ‘Krivan’ in High Tatras without being pushed going back because of weather
  55. Don’t eat sweets for half a year
  56. Learn official First Aid
  57. Organise all email addresses
  58. Make for someone breakfast in bed
  59. Finnish drawing book from Oihane
  60. Put together book with art activities for children
  61. Climb Ben Nevis in Scotland
  62. Create a counselling workshop
  63. Own a horse
  64. Try housesitting
  65. Finnish reading ‘The Artists Way’ book
  66. Do yoga regularly
  67. Do regularly outdoor military training for 3 months
  68. Have enough money every month without turning every coin
  69. Get a new tattoo related to Scotland
  70. Get another tattoo related to ouroboros
  71. Learn pois that I can actually do them with a song
  72. Visit a new state
  73. Stay in a Bothy
  74. Do a birthday Trip
  75. Do a road trip
  76. Safe money for a car
  77. Read a classic novel I have never read
  78. Finnish singing classes
  79. Become fluent in Spanish again – find someone you can speak regularly Spanish with
  80. Do 7 days unplug
  81. Learn legs split
  82. Walk Santiago de Compostela for a month
  83. Have passive income
  84. Paint/draw every day
  85. Find lost creativity and touch with art
  86. Visit African Safari
  87. Sing and play guitar on the street
  88. Sing and play guitar on an open mic
  89. Go on holidays with my parents
  90. Travel across Slovakia (on my own or with my parents)
  91. Go to Barcelona see my friend (possibly meet all 4 of us?)
  92. Meet Oihane either in Scotland or Spain
  93. Go to a wellness retreat
  94. Find a way how to live in mountains maybe sustainable small house/cottage
  95. Write regularly articles/blogs/fiction/poems
  96. Make my will
  97. Get an apple pc where I can create videos
  98. Go to a concert of a world famous interpret (or someone I like)
  99. Finnish one of the sketchbooks
  100. Find my own ultimate clothes style
  101. Feel proud finishing all or some of the 101 things and create new 101 things in 1001 days  list

The cycle – misunderstood natural process of being human

‘She must be on her period, ´ said a man in a suit to his colleague laughing at their boss who just burst in anger about some in their eyes unimportant thing.

´Other woman are just fine and functioning why can´t you?´

´I don´t want to hear about it it´s disgusting.´

´You can´t use your cycle as an excuse for being mean´

I am sorry for maybe uncomfortable topic for some but same time can be a little eye opening and if you are a man you can maybe understand a woman a little bit more.

Have you ever heard any of the statements above? Personaly or throug others I did.

Just few days ago I had very strange experience. Pain would be very common companion every month but what I experienced now was way far more extreme than ever before. I guess the connection to my own woman site and body is reaching its culminating point so with understanding can sometimes come pain as well. I almost called the ambulance when I was just about to faint while making breakfast being unable to stand up, covered in hot sweat, pinpointed to the bed crawling like a hurt animal. My whole body vibrated and only open my eyes was too much, too painful, too overwhelming. Whole world around me was spiralling and I wasn´t sure if it ever ends.

All I could do is accept that my body is going through something difficult yet important. Once I have embraced my state which was a little scary the sensation started easing itself.

Woman cycle is a truly strange but in a way a magical thing as well. I am not an exception in better understanding my own woman site as older I get.

There used to be times when I wished to be rather a man and cycle was one of the reasons.

I have been always very sensitive to it skipped classes at school because of it felt embarrassed when I was one of the first one in my class to experience it.

Such a natural thing which somehow we grow up to hide, feel embarrassed about, find hard to talk about, push ourselves to feel and perform as nothing would be happening every month to our body. We have learnt to take pills to control and change natural patterns as we would think it is our right playing gods.

I don´t blame you there is a huge pressure to be fully functioning as if we wouldn´t be humans.

How could a world run predominantly by mind understand that every woman experiences her cycle differently, some are more sensitive to it than others, that it is unhuman effort to try control moods in this time. How could a mind who doesn´t understand emotions embrace that it is not a sign of weakness but quiet opposite. It is easier to deny the huge impact it has on the body, mind, emotions, performance, mood every single month because it is just not convenient being sensitive and human. It takes time, effort and open mind to understand what is really happening. Unfortunatelly that doesn´t earn any money or perform well on annual progress presentations.

Cycle taught me a lot about myself. Every month I can see a pattern appearing. Just before ´the cleaning process´ my moods change sometimes rapidly. There is nothing I can do about it as I believe you out there either. All we can do is embrace the fact that we are emotional, nervous even mean sometimes and giving people around us a little hard time.

I hear you it is not easy to deal with us but trust me it is not easy to be us in the time either.

Often I would feel to be a different person. My moods lower down, for about a week before,I would prefer quiet environment, no people and withdraw. It is not always possible though in such sped up lives we live sometimes in structure where society is build the way where are no breaks or acknowledgments of woman’s monthly cycle.

I am starting to understand better what could of been society before patriarchy when woman was a centre of society connected to very raw source of our humanness – emotions, nature cycles, body, all we are made of and from.

We don´t live in that world anymore because from body and our heart we moved into our heads. We disconnected from our bodies so much, that sometimes we can´t even spot our own emotions, we became unaware how much they drive our behaviour and thought patterns. In this sense woman are very lucky, because cycle is bringing us back, is teaching us to connect with ourselves to be aware of the pattern to listen what our body needs and is telling us.

It is such a creative process as well. According to my cycle I see the patter of creativity emerging. All the senses heighten just before sometimes in such an overwhelming way that bearing noise is difficult, emotions of other people, my own emotions which reach extreme points.

I am not able to be creative in this time.

Everything feels pointless what the body needs here is quiet going inside rather to the outside world, reflect because something is ending and needs to be processed and let go for another new beginning.  Just after everything calms down I feel renewed as the body is renewed once again. My creativity emerges, my mood is cheerer, ideas emerge, I have much more energy.

New cycle has started and the process of born and death in symbolic way is starting once again.

As a little child full of energy I enter first days, so excited about everything every single experience and as I grow ´older´ throughout the process I calm down and go into slower retrospective state as the cycle is reaching its end just before the period comes the same way as one is reaching end of their life. Month passed and death and new beginning will be experienced once again.

Understanding this process helped me to connect natural processes in life. Everything is changing all the time, nothing stays still or forever, what is born needs to die one day, it’s a natural process we forgot in technological by mind run world.

I feel connected to my woman site today as never before. Through all the pain, misunderstanding, blame, judgment of such natural process we experience every month I finally came to understand how powerful and necessary this all is.

All we need is a support, acceptance and respect that we bear this to show you what one part of human nature is truly about :)

What is it I am complaining about?

Living in the city can be a bit of a challenge sometimes. Maybe it is not even the city as our (my) lucking ability to switch off. I am certainly a person who is way too sensitive which makes me get easily overwhelmed and guard myself a little more, prone to withdraw. Maybe that is exactly the reason why I tend to seek quiet away from everyone and everything sometimes.

Do you know that feeling?

Everything seems to be too noisy too much too many choices too many people. In a way I do love both noise-quiet light-dark city-village…one reminds me how lucky I am to have the other. Yet I am growing to be old for city life. Maybe I just need a break maybe I am getting ready for a different phase of my life.

More and more I long for long deserted forest walks for exploring quiet forgotten places.

I need to be careful though because one big lesson of my life is being happy with what I have and don´t get lost in dreams about possibilities which are not ´just now´. Little daydreaming though is okay sometimes so I guess today I can give myself permission :D.

I do feel a bit guilty in this very moment while I am writing this as if I would be abandoning Edinburgh a city which gave me so much and taught me to be who I am.

I am slipping lately into memory realms about times I have experienced before, times which feel to be as a different life what I am glad is behind me. Yet all those good or bad experiences I had nice and little less nice people I met brought me exactly where I am today and made me who I am today and I will be forever thankful for that to all of them.

I guess lately I have been longing for ´work´ of my ancestors which is truly strange feeling. I do come from a family which has long history of connection with nature and people. There always has been somehow creative vibe but as well very technical and logical approach. I guess I am trying to find my own place once again as many times before and noise of the city is not always helping. Yet we can only work with what we´ve got and Edinburgh is still far away from very noisy and huge cities. It is very green city too with so many bits of nature which one can explore.

So what exactly is it I am complaining about? :D

I guess I am not alone wishing to experience a life where I get out of the house and am on the edge of the forest. Life where I can run through the meadows whenever I please and smell all the flowers. But as well life filled with not always easy every day work yet somehow meaningful connected to very source of ourselves, to nature.

Maybe one day.

Slowly I am implementing small bits into the life where I am just now. I get to go to the forest, pick up some berries or mushrooms, bake muffins (such a discovery :D), listen to people, play with kids, enjoy time with friends and some new people coming into my life…

For now, I have a privilege to explore at least nature in and around the city. Maybe in some time I get to go farther to the mountains once again and do my so long planned hiking trips. I guess past months were for many of us quite reflecting ones. I am greatful to be healthy have a roof above my head work for others find some time to be creative. It can be struggle sometimes because of the demands of the outside world finances which seem to always avoid me for a very good reason (that is certainly for another story).

Do you have these moments where you are same time grateful for what you have yet that never happy voice becomes a little louder?

Maybe you understand and maybe not…Either way it´s okay… Today has been a little philosophical….

Is there something you are thankful for right now where you are at? Or the wander how life could be different is lauder these days?

Fairy Hunt

When I moved here what I was most taken by were stories about mythical creatures and fairies srill fairly lalive among the people. They are very proud for this heritage which I find fascinating and somewhat similar to my own culture where many fairy tales about mythical creatures still live among the people. Maybe not in such extend as here yet I remember stories to be told as a child or attending events and festivities closely connected with old traditions.

With all this mythical knowledge once you see the beautiful nature here or wherever else there you can let your imagination go and meet fairy behind the trees.

I have few stories of my own while frowing up. There used to be a tree close to my parent’s field. I spent hours talking to it and back then I believed it is talking back to me. Sounds crazy right? Yet I don´t think it was that crazy at all, because as much I learnt there are different parts of our personalities and probably this one was one of them projected by my ´child me´ into a tree. I gave her even a name – Agatha. It certainly was my good wise fairy always providing comfort and good advice.

My mum taught me hug trees when I was little, because they carry beautiful energy from the source. Every time we would go to the forest she would hug trees I would follow until I entered ´cool´ age and found that to be somewhat crazy. I am realizing just now how much these small rituals meant and how they created my strong connection to life, nature and everything alive.

Walking through a beautiful forest thinking that there are tiny creatures protecting its beauty gives me joy and reassurance that not all is lost yet that nature will always find a way. Little painting I did here inspired by nature was very free flow illustration of possible worries and yet freedom of the fairies. It´s more of a study then final piece yet I enjoyed every second of the painting. Come with me for a little fairy hunt today.

Do you have any fairy stories of your own? I would be happy to hear :)

Herbs picking – ritual to connect with ancestors

It is summer again. Scottish summers are very different to those back in Slovakia. There is a saying here…

´People need to get used to that summer is not in July and August but in May/June and September´

This saying couldn´t be more truth.

Lately we have a lot of rain and only few days now and then happen to be sunny and warm.

I think that´s why I was lately coming back in my mind to the last summer when I visited my parents. It was over thirty degrees nice warm and sunny almost all the time. One day we have decided to go to the forest for some mushroom picking. It wasn´t the best season for doing so but it was a bit rainy before I came so maybe there was a chance for some mushrooms growing.

This article though is not going to be about our family tradition of mushroom picking but rather about another quite traditional activity in the family – herbs picking.

Street where I grew up is a quiet street where you can enter fields just around the corner. There is a meadow and little stream where flowers blossom in the spring and summer. Many of them are herbs which generations of woman in my family used to pick up and cook different kind of remedies from them.

I remember when I was a little girl for every bump I had there was a special cream which my grandma made and cured everything with.

This skill and interest certainly is something I have inherited as well. I have done some herbs picking only few times here in Scotland so last summer as we got out of the forest and there was this beautiful meadow full of flowers I couldn´t resist and persuaded my parents to stay for a while.

They say that the best time for picking herbs is sunny midday, so that day was exactly like it welcoming us to the flowery meadow.

I felt recently that creating this video would of give me opportunity to connect with these parts of myself somewhat forgotten, connect with my ancestors whose life was so much connected with nature but for some reason they just tried to forget it. There is a lot of we can find in ourselves which is going into past generations of hundreds years ago. My need for nature coming to the basics is ´the calling´of my old ancestors whose lands were possibly taken and who were forced to become someone else than who they have been for generations.

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Artists inspiration during midsummer day 2020

It is not long from midsummer day. Every year even if I forget it somehow comes to my awareness. This year wasn´t different.

I was moving flat which took a lot of my attention. Around 24st of June I started to be fulfilled with this new strange energy. It is every year around this time I feel as everything renew itself.

I moved a flat so obviously things started to be new I basically am starting over, but there was something else into it. I felt this deep connection to something inside of me.

Forgotten.

As I was looking for few things into the flat I don´t even know how suddenly I ended up on the e-shop of one talented artist. She creats these beautiful symbolic goddesses and seeing those pictures I just fell in love.

IMG_9163There was so much symbolism which just was so deeply talking to me connecting with this part of me I have forgotten about. Each goddess would represent certain aspect of mostly womanhood.

I spent hours just reading about them and connecting with this mythical symbolism.

At the end I ended up ordering few pictures after thorough consideration which ones are for me. Those pictures just created certain frame in which I finally saw myself and woman in general. I felt a wave of inspiration a hope that these little women who got such a huge responsibility to carry human’s desires and dreams, bringing them to their own self will remind me of my own path. Journey towards never ending inspiration and understanding which is deep inside of each of us.

Once again I heard calling of the nature because not only one goddess was connected to nature and wild animals. This calling is deep and different to anything I have ever experienced before.

Art (in different forms) and nature.

Only two things which made complete sense throughout my whole life. Every midsummer day directly or no directly is reminding me of this calling so strongly that is impossible not to listen.

So I created this little video about goddesses which came into my life during midsummer time of 2020. Enjoy! :)

 

How to start pursuing your passion.

There is plenty of guidance how to pursue your passion, but what I found to be most difficult from my own experience is to figure out what it actually is.

I always knew I love creative staff I did theatre for some time, played guitar, danced always was doing something creative for my family and friends, but for a long time I didn’t really know that´s actually what fulfils me the most.

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Scotland, did we make it?

They say seventh year is the critical one for relationship. The year when you either get married or break up. I can´t really say from the romantic experience just yet but there is one relationship which kinda reflects that.

It has been seven years since I moved to Scotland.

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Hidden inspiration of scottish borders

Do you know that feeling that you are somewhere and you think that you know it there and yet still something can truly surprise you?

That´s why I love Scotland. It is beautiful green country where nature shows itself in its fullest. Every time I go somewhere I am stunned by its beauty. Always I found hidden treaures of this country and little suprises which inspire my soul.

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When you just are

That space of stillness and calmness within us. I don´t know about you but I have heard teachers around the world for many years now talking about this space. Helping us to get there. All over again and again talking about that same thing. You can name it Mooji, Tolle, Osho, Ivanka and many others. Always there for their students who are ready to listen. And always it comes back to that space where it all arises which is behind our body behind our self. It just is.

When I first heard about this space it did sound familiar but I wasn´t there. Through life and experiences I have started to be there but only sometimes. I got into a role of observer, observer of myself of the body with name with certain destiny. It all became quieter. It is quieter now.

Great times of this quiet space are when I paint but not only then. It is there when I talk when I wash dishes, when I walk. Art leads me there tough it is only one of many tools which made my mind to be quieter.

Then questioned arise…

What is the point of life if I just am? Mind was talking again so I put myself into work because I found out those are times when mind shuts up. It takes its focus to what is my body actually doing rather than wandering about and feel whatever – sorry for itself, angry, sad, mad, lonely, stressed, pressured etc..

And I paint, draw and laugh and just am. There is nothing else necessary, although I do all that other necessary staff too. I live. But I do it as an observer of this body doing all the staff in every day being happy I can just be :)

Do I not identify with my body anymore?

Yes I do, there is still what to learn until I get there permanently. I´m on the way though. I´m on my way.