New and Improved!!

Several years ago I wrote a piece that was published in the anthology 'Tales from the Expat Harem-Foreign Women in Modern Turkey' edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gökmen. The anthology was published around the world and touched a lot of people globally. Anastasia and Jennifer got a huge feedback through the website that accompanied it.



Now Anastasia has redesigned the website as expat+HAREM, a niche for global citizens, identity adventurers, Turkophiles, intentional travellers and culturati. So far we've had posters writing from Turkey, Dubai and the Hague about writing, domestic/artistic life and bringing children home to the land of their fathers. My first post has just gone up 'It takes a Virtual Village', about the importance of virtual friends in raising my children.



So pop over and join the conversation!

Opportunity knocks

It is a time of opportunities. They peek out, shyly, then tap you on the shoulder and whisper in your ear. They make tremendous promises, paint a future of terrific brightness in your mind and leave you smiling in a wonderful dream. For a while you stay in the dream, seeing the possibilities, the positivity of life.

Then reality comes calling. It exposes some opportunities for the sham that they are, reveals their promises to be empty and their future to be bleak. It’s hard to let go of that bright dream, hard to admit you were fooled by the pretty pictures. Reality sternly points to the obstacles along the road, the many tasks that must be completed before even setting foot on the road. Slowly the dream recedes.

The trick is not to wait for opportunities to come and find you but instead to go and create them yourself. Why wait for them to arrive with a heap of other peoples conditions attached. Create the opportunities and give them shape and meaning, knowing the obstacles and overcoming them on your own terms.

Have I succeeded in this? Not yet. But I will…

One opportunity has arisen and is turning out to be a very good one indeed. I’m not going to say anything yet, all will be revealed next week. So check back on Monday for more.