The start of the Garden of my Mind

With this, I’ll try to bring my mind and myself to come to an agreement.

“Long story short”

You’ll hear me say “long story short” quite a lot, before I tell you the longest story you’ll ever hear, but this time I’ll try to keep it short (no promises though).

Hi, my name is Sofia, but friends call me Sof. I am a twenty-four year old girly who moved to Australia nearly 2 years ago. I am turning 25 on the 26th of June and I feel like it’s safe to say; I’m having a quarter-life crisis. I have shared the best parts of life on Instagram and I will be honest, I am sick of just sharing the good bits. I will make a couple promises to the visitors of my garden. I promise to show honesty, love, and mindfulness into my way of writing. I cannot wait to write about all the things I’ve learned, seen, and thought about in the last couple years. Because honestly it has been a roller coaster!

I’ll write every week and, hopefully, finally, share some of the projects I’ve been quietly working on over the last few years.

Before I start making this garden bloom, let me explain why I call it a garden. A garden is never finished. It grows, changes with the seasons, and sometimes becomes a little wild before finding its shape again. A bit like (my) life, it requires patience, curiosity, and care. Over the years, I’ve collected stories, lessons, travels, questions, and ideas. Some have blossomed beautifully, while others have withered, or are still waiting for their moment.

This blog is a place for all of them. A place where I can plant thoughts, nurture projects, share experiences, and see what grows. For now, I’ll be tending to this little corner of the internet, arranging the paths and planting the seeds. It might take a while, but every garden starts somewhere.

I have worked as a teacher my whole life, I’m pretty good in what I’m doing and have a talent in regulating the next generation and spark a sense of curiosity in them. I like their natural curiosity for the little things in life, search for balance of their moral compass, and their purity of being their truest self. But it also takes a toll, from the intense workloads, and endless micro-decisions, to the emotional weight of caring for others all the time. Basically putting yourself aside for them.
I need to remember that I am a person who teaches, not just a teacher. That’s the last thing I will say about this, but merging my personal identity with my job is a real struggle at this moment, so stay as I figure this out.

Here are 10 things I’d like about me – deep stuff and fun stuff – maybe you’d like to know about me before following my blog:

1. Well, I feel like I am constantly figuring out life and overthinking my decisions to an extend that I worry in my sleep. I am just sick of talking about my dreams. I am READY to be living my dreams. There are only 24 hours in a day and I feel like I’m wasting my time when I’m not working on my dreams. Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for what life has brought me. I am grateful for my two legs that take me anywhere I want, my good health, my partner and my beautiful home and life here in Australia. It’s just comparison I struggle with.
2. I feel like old songs have more magic. My favourite 3 songs are I’m On Fire by Bruce Springsteen, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan and Live Well by Palace. I could listen to these on repeat for 24 hours without stopping.
3. I met my Australian partner, Sam, on my first solo-trip to Portugal. My whole life changed since meeting him. This one decision created a whole different life-direction for me. I will write more about this memory in another post.
4. I had a cat, Poetie, he’s my motivation when I’m lacking some. He died last year and I still grieve him deeply. I feel his presence  – call me delusional – but I believe in it, a 100%!
5. I was born in Kurgan, Russia in 2001, so my mother language is Russian, but I grew up in Belgium since 2002 so my first language is also Dutch (actually Flemish). So, English is my third language, but after living in Australia for nearly two years I would say it feels a bit like a first language as well. I sometimes wish I could do more with this talent.
6. I am an adventurous soul who craves for travel every. single. day. almost like an obsession. I always liked travelling when I was a kid, but after my trip to Madeira back in April 2023, my mindset shifted and I had this moment of admiration, beauty and stillness within me, and realised the 9-5 was never meant to be the way of living. I will write about this thought another time as well.
7. I believe I am addicted to my phone and I am too aware of it. This will be in another post as well, but wow, I feel it in my brain. This thing has a say in my way of thinking, my way of feeling and my way of being. It has been scientifically proven. Watch “The Social Dilemma” and you will understand it more (not an ad).
8. My favourite book is “The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari” by Robin Sharma. They talk about true purpose, inner fulfillment, and the way Sharma has written it is just so easy to read. People have called me a ‘hippie’ which I find quite interesting as well. I wouldn’t say that at all about myself, but I guess being a bit spiritual is sometimes a bit strange for certain people.
9. I like writing poetry, I’m writing a book. Been working on it for years now, and sometimes I feel so creative and sometimes I cannot write for months. (Which in my opinion is also a mental issue, because I believe “creating” is the soul’s medicine. I strongly believe that the opposite of DEpression is EXpression. Anyway… more about this in another post! I have put a deadline for myself but think I might need to change it because that’s not the point of writing and creating, right? Having to push myself, I like being creative in different ways, sometimes I like to play ukulele, sometimes I like to go bouldering, I like painting, writing a song. No need to put time pressure on myself, but also, I like finishing things.
10. I struggle living two lives. One in Australia here, one in Belgium where the time difference is 8-10 hours depending on summer- or wintertime. I struggle keeping my friends in touch, even though I try to do better, it’s hard figuring out life on it’s own in one life, but two lives? Goodness me, it’s tricky! Even when I’m in Belgium I struggle sharing the time with my friends and family, because no one is getting younger and I just go into this freeze-mode where I don’t do anything. I want to live a memorable life and with that comes hard decisions, hard work and accepting that your life will never be the same again. Now, with that I’d like to end my ‘long story short’ because I’ve been typing for quite a while.

Look, I don’t know where life will take me, I’ve got so much to do and so much to see. But I truly hope I can just stay my authentic me within this lifetime and I’ll know that it will be worth living this life just because of that reason.

Thank you for wandering through the garden with me. I hope you’ll stop by again soon! Feel free to subscribe. More will come very soon!