I have to admit I got pretty nervous seeing a reply on a post from 2016, which every website expert has told me to remove, assuming it was spam. Imagine how touched I was to not only see it was a real person, but one who actually took the time to write a real, moving, emotional and emotive response. Thank you so much - for landing on my site, for reading, and for stopping to share your thoughts. Hope your day is full of strangers smiling at you, too.

And then there's also that idea that if you live abroad, your life must be perfect 😉

Definetely!!

Sadly, I think it's part and parcel with our upbringing... There was such a taboo around showing weakness and emotions back in the USSR, and most former Soviet households are still struggling to outgrow it.

"Training myself to be strong" - that sounds so familiar to how I've spent the last decade of my life! I hope someday I'll be proud of my idiosyncrasies too 🙂

Thank you Summer!!!! It's been a bit insane... But I wouldn't have it any other way 🙂

Oooh! We'll be there to see them very soon 🙂

summerdaisy.net

It's so funny. I spent my while childhood and teenage years training myself to be strong, never show weakness, never cry in public, hide my imperfections... But the older I get, the more I just want to proclaim the from the rooftops! I've really learned to accept that it's exactly those idiosyncrasies that make me who I am.
I hope so too, bertochka 🙂

Slowly slowly - sometimes, by carving out ten minutes out of every hour, and sometimes by taking a whole afternoon off - I manage to find time to do what I love: cook, write, edit photos, and dream. It's not easy, but with encouragement from friends like you, it's entirely doable!

I try to do that, but my perfectionism shames me.... It's a tough job being deluded into thinking you are perfect 😉