it was sunny in london today.

i took a walk down the thames to canary wharf and watched people enjoying their sunday afternoon.

i stopped for a moment and took it all in: a group of wee little boys on wee little bicycles whooshing past, people asleep in the grass enjoying that first heady rush where it’s finally warm enough to touch bare skin to bare grass, the lucky dandelions that narrowly escaped the recent cutting which made the air smell like the backyard of my childhood.

it’s amazing what happens when you slow down.

i’ve been stocking my kitchen with culinary basics and making things from scratch.

normally ‘cooking sucks’ is my catchphrase. generally i’m the dishwasher while my flatmates are the chefs.

but lately, i’ve been craving that joy that occurs when there’s good music on the stereo and a friend chatting to you about the day’s events while you create bits of nourishment from nothing.

i think that the slow food movement really has something to it. because there’s something intensely magical about what happens when you start paying attention to everything around you.

the whole thing behind craftivism is that it is a way of life, i.e. what happens when you start thinking about what you’re doing while you’re doing it. not obsessing per se, just relishing in your surroundings.

by being aware of what you’re doing, you realize why you’re doing it, which leads to more conscious choices.

but then again, i always get a bit of a kick in the ass in spring, because as everything outside wakes up from its winter’s nap, you can’t help but notice all the beauty.

spring reminds me that i forget to really look all too often. and looking is good.