The Wonderful Lightness of Being

After sleeping loads last weekend, and turning off my work emails, I managed to get a bit of healthy distance to it all, and have taken it really slow this week - as after two days at work, I have another five days off. It's important not only for re-energizing, but also for refocussing and rebalancing. Work  can suck you into this 24-7 mode so quickly, and even little things suddenly seem critical - and there's never an end to little things! Today, ignoring hayfever season, I spent half of the day with my girls (5.5 and nearly 7) at Berlin's "central park". A friend of ours had asked whether they'd like to join a photoshoot with a former magazine editor who is trying to re-enter the job market after a longer baby break, and needed to build up a photo portfolio. Living in Berlin-Mitte, and having a number of people working in the creative sector in our schools, this is not the first time our kids have been asked to model. I've so far been against it, but this was through a friend (and not for an agency), and for a good cause, plus the girls were for it, as they couldmhang out with a friend. It ended up being a lovely experience. My girls are completely oblivious to clothes or how they look (what a blessing so far), and were not at all self-consious. Nor were they all oohs-and-aahs about dresses or clips. It was all just so natural, without anyone complaining, asking others how they looked, no mirrors, no posing. And as there was a professional fashion photographer (who literally took around 1000+ photos, with that paparazzi snap-snap-snap sound), the photos turned out amazing. It was a lazy day in the park, with a few clothes changes, a massive pizza lunch at a wonderful beer-garden at a lake, three friends playing with each other - and lots of beautiful pictures.