After almost two weeks of the new regime of living, we probably all already agree that we found ourselves in different times. It seems to me that the saying “Fear is hollow and there is nothing outside” has lost its context.

All in all, it’s very unknown and uncertain to us, new and different, so it’s no wonder it’s getting a little confusing to us. Those of you who have children, however, will understand even more. ;)

Of course, children experience the situation in their own way. They see, hear, understand or not, but they certainly feel our tension and uncertainty, but they may not be able to express these feelings (yet). They are deprived of freedom, socializing with peers, relaxed play and a routine that gives them a sense of security.

Schools are closed and it was clear that I would have to talk to my daughter. What, how and how much to explain to a child at a certain age seemed to me quite a challenge. It just seemed right to me that she knows what was going on, but I didn’t want to scare her additionally.

Since she couldn’t sleep at night, I prepared a blend of Bach flower essences for her to overcome her fears. They work really well with children, gently caressing and calming them, so Zoja calmly swam into dreams.

When things are so much bigger than us, the most we can do is stay calm, in our energy, in our center.

I want everyone to make the most of this time that has been given to us, that we are together and that everything will pass as soon as possible.

Stay healthy! A hug, Tamara

My dear,
 
during this time, I, too, finally found time to write. After decades!
 
From a young age, I was encouraged to write in a variety of settings. For some time I diligently met with writers and wrote down thoughts, stories, verses. Even my dear friend, an astrologer, announced to me a long time ago that there is a book written in the stars for me.
 
But… as Zoja told me when she was very young and I complained that I couldn't do everything at once: "Mom, one by one."
 
So let’s start with short notes and let’s see where it will take us.
 
So far, outwardly, none of us can go very far, but we can travel inward.
 
Let's take a breath. We capture the air with full lungs. A deep journey awaits us.
 
If we are brave enough, we may feel ourselves when the spasm subsides.
 
We will realize how long we have not lived ourselves.
 
How long do we allow our boundaries to be disrespected.
 
How long do we do things that empty us.
 
How many times we do things we don’t like.
 
How much time we spend with people that empty us.
 
How long have we not allowed ourselves to be what we are.
 
How long do we try to adapt to a situation that is not ours.
 
How many burdens have we imposed on ourselves that have absolutely nothing to do with us.
 
How long have we been screaming.
 
How long do we want to get out of this cage.
 
The time has come to sort out and calm our thoughts.
 
Time with time supports us to take time every day and think about what we are all grateful for.
 
Take a piece of paper and write down 50 things or people you are grateful for in your life. Sounds great? Try it, you will see that you will definitely want to add another line ;).
 
For example, I thank you every day for:
Health
Family
The love I receive
Friends
Freedom
Security
Of course
... and more and more :)
 
Think about it every day before bed, or talk to your loved ones about what all you are grateful for. Your world would change <3

And I’m not saying this just like that, because research has shown that gratitude has a beneficial effect on different areas of our lives. It can help us make friends, improve physical and mental health, promote empathy, contribute to better sleep, help achieve greater self-esteem and more.

So bravely, there are no bad side effects;)

I am thinking …
 
about this special time we have found ourselves in.
 
A lot of thoughts have traveled through my head over the past few days.
 
And a lot of sensations were perceived by my body.
 
Interestingly, not so long ago, just a week ago, the most common mantra I heard was “I don’t have time”. We lived in a time without time. Time was the greatest value.
 
We have time now.
 
Do we still know how to live in time with time? Was the stress greater before or is it now?
 
It may not seem like it at first glance, but in this time, it is extremely important to organize time.
 
While we may feel deprived of raging from an important task to an even more important meeting with incredibly important people for even more important goals, ... we may find something far more important at home if the quarantine lasts long enough. Time. Playfulness. Relaxation. Real connection. Simplicity. True values. Joy. Little things. Feelings. Your loved ones. Ourselves.
 
We may have a feeling that we are trapped and there is nothing we can do.
 
So let’s quickly take a sheet of paper and a pen in our hands!
 
Fold the paper in half. We write on one page what we cannot do right now. Not tonight, not tomorrow, NOW.
 
For example, my paper said:
I can't enchant the virus to disappear
I can't protect all the people in the world
I can't go out to lunch
I can't hang out with friends
I can't travel
I can’t go to job interviews
I can't go shopping
I can't know how long all this will take… and similar.
 
When you write down everything you can't do NOW, cross it out or burn it - mostly FORGET because you have no influence over it and it unnecessarily steals your valuable energy that you need to survive right now.
 
On the other side of the paper, write what you can do NOW.
 
For example, my list read:
Now I can sleep as long as I want
I don't have to rush anywhere
I have a lot of time for my husband and daughter
I can spend more time in the nature
I have time to meditate
I can learn something new
I can take advantage of all the great workouts available online
I can clean the house
I can arrange around the house
I can arrange the garden
I can pick healing flowers
And more and more :)
When you complete this list (which of course you can constantly update), make a plan - what you will do first, what you want most or what is most important to you and when you will do it.
 
It helped me a lot to move forward. I was amazed at what all we CAN do NOW.
 
We have to move, it gives us strength and meaning. I came across this text when I was browsing online: we humans are 70% made up of water. Imagine what happens when the water is not moving? For example mud, puddle? It turns brown, insects accumulate, everything starts to rot ... Do we agree? So hop hop, everyone in action!

Learn, learn, and learn again, said Marshal Tito, and I say move, move and move again;).

I will be very happy if you share with me in the comments how your list looks like.

Stay healthy! A hug, Tamara

Hey,

let me tell you a story from my personal experience.

When I was 10 years old, me and my friends from my neighbourhood have built a wooden ramp. “Who can jump the furthest?” were the words every time we have put the ramp out on the street.

Each of us was a proud owner of a BMX, mine was red. I always represented this color, but not in a sense of fighting capabilities, but in a sense of bruised and bloody knees.   

These red knees did not end at my age of 10, but they carried on towards my thirties.  

I’ve realized that they played an essential role in my fight towards my goals in life for which I am really grateful.
 
Every time I fell of my bike I’ve realized that I have come to the edge of my current abilities. I've always looked back to see what I need to fix for further progress. Yes, sometimes the pain was unbearable, but I always managed to get my but up and tried again.

And there was 2004. It happened. I crashed and injured muscle tissue on my left leg. Pain just did not want to go away. And it took months to recover. I felt sorry for myself.

At that time, I’ve realized how a career of a cyclist can end up in an instant and I started to question myself: "What is the meaning of all I am doing?"

Then it flashed me. I got a vision.

In my mind I’ve returned back in time when I hang out with my buddies from my neighbourhood. It came to mind that moment when we’ve put out that wooden ramp and enjoyed it with all our hearts. We were proud of our friendship affiliation and simply felt joyful about the things what love to do – ride our bikes.

At that moment I realized what my mission was. Every kid in town or village should experience pure joy and affiliation at things they are passionate about.

It did not take long, when in 2006 we’ve opened a bike park in the capital city of Ljubljana. 

I have finally accomplished my mission. More than 100 young cyclists have visited our park every day since the opening. Community was growing, new cyclists were born and joyful faces were found everywhere.

Bruised and bloody knees were a common scene at the park!  What a joy. It was unforgettable.

But I was not completely happy. I wanted more.

As cycling has evolved, has also the infrastructure. In 2008 I’ve read an article of an American cyclist and trainer Lee McCormack. He fascinated me with the idea of building a small, but intensive cycling track called pump track.
     
After a thorough study of his literature and finally riding it (we have built one in our bike park), I’ve realized that pump tracks contain all the aspects I was pushing for.

Today, in the absence of our time, we are more and more in search of an instant physical recreation. That is why proximity and practicality of a recreational infrastructure is a must.

Training of balance, coordination and agility that are essential for every cyclist – from a child to an adult – are the components that are serially integrated into every pump track.   

Social component of collaboration and cooperation is activated and youth can finally breathe in a fresh wind of healthy competition and stay in touch with their own progress.

​Pump tracks are a summary of the path I have walked in my cycling shoes till today. They represent a modern and concentrated form of fun in progress that young people need today.

Long live red knees!

​

​Dejan Gorenc
Founder, Pumptrack Slovenija

Walking Kitty went for a walk in the forest where she met a unicorn. He asked her: "Would you like to climb on my back, I need like to take you somewhere.

"Sure," she said and jumped on his back. They flew away.
When they reached the clouds they saw other unicorns.

Unicorn has shown a magic trick to the Walking Kitty and created a mouse for her. But not a real mouse, just a little toy she could play with. After some time when Kitty has been playing with her mouse she said: "I will be late, I need to go home."

Unicorn has taken her away, down from the clouds. They landed. Walking Kitty saw again the old castle in her village.

On the way home she has met a giant friendly bear who had a horn on his forehead, just like a unicorn. He said that he will walk her home. On the half way he turned around and a unicorn has joined them. Soon they were acompanied also by another small bear with a horn and five others.

When a Walking Kitty reached her home, she became so happy that she started running towards her entrance, where her owners were waiting for her with her favourite cat food. The End
 
Story by: Zoja (7yrs)

Our small village Orehek, situated in the Inner-Karst region of Slovenia has decided to build a new playground for kids and youth. We know how important it is to start investing into our children at their early age and how important it is for them to be physically active.

Check this article Dejan wrote on Linkedin.

Dejan is actively involved into building this playground. It is not just an ordinary playground, it is called pump track and it will allow the whole family to ride on it with bikes, roller blades, skateboards or scooters.

Construction has started on 6th of May and will be finished in June 2016.
To see how it is being built, you can follow this link (unfortunately it is in Slovenian language).

Photo source: www.velosolutions.ch

"Wow, look at this! You have to try this! Aaaaaa, what a nice boat! Sorry, but you will have to wait, because I have seen it first! What a great toy!"

These were the exact words said by kids aged from 3-5 when they saw toys made out of waste materials. Slovenian Information Office of the European Parliament was the initiator of this project and we have organized that the exhibition was held also in Orehek. We invited kids from our local kinder garden to play and to share the experience of how waste can be transformed into a very useful toy.

Not much work is needed to create a unique toy that satisfies and fulfills a child's heart. All toys were made by children from Slovenian elementary schools in 2015.

Another strip that was made by Dejan. It is a real life story from little village of Orehek, Slovenia. :)

Since we have moved to our small village of Orehek (Slovenia) we somehow got a strong desire to cook. With all the vegetables and herbs that grew on our own garden it was impossible to resist the temptation of picking them up and preparing tasteful dishes in our kitchen.

To boost our motivation and provide us with recipes we have never tried yet, we were happy to receive the cook book from our relative Aaron in New Zealand. Here are the latest photos to give you a quick look of what we made in the last week from his book. It was delicious!
Thank you Aaron!!

On a sunny Saturday morning we have decided to attend Nordic Walking competition organized in Dovje. This lovely Alpine village is located in Mojstrana, in one of the most beautiful regions of Slovenia. 
We have spent an incredible time with our friends from nordic walking licence seminar.

Just had a wonderful Sunday with kids from Orehek.
We have organized a bike workshop on our local playground.
Kids just looooooved it!  :)

Had a great time with the theater group of KD Brce in Orehek.
Tamara was one of the main organizers of the event and we had a pleasure watching their latest comedy with the title Češpe na figi, directed by Sergej Verč.
It was incredible! Thank you! 

After a couple of years of thinking we finaly decided that it was time to become a national licenced nordic walking instructor. We attended the course with some lovely people from all over Slovenia.

We just love nordic walking, it offers such a variety of options how to use the poles. From just simple walking to endurance and strength training, all in the nature!

Poles force your upper body to become active during the walk and your heart rate rizes for 15bpm compared to a normal walk.

Dejan yesterday took a piece of paper and started to draw some of the funniest moments in our exciting life with Zoja. Our Zoja is very curious and full of energy.

We decided to show these drawings also to you and hope they will make you laugh. :)

Another great weekend is behind us.
We decided to organize a creative Saturday evening with the children from our small village of Orehek.
We have sent out the invitation three days before and more than 15 children came to our workshop, which is more than 80 percent of all we have invited. WOW!

We were happy!
And so were the children, with all the incredible things they have created. We had so much fun that we almost forgot to take pictures. Here are some, taken with Dejan's phone. :)

Our friend Katja came to visit us in Orehek. She works and creates in the small town named Tomaj in the Kras region of Slovenia.
We organized an art workshop where we have made decorations and ornaments made ​​from natural materials. From twigs, cobs, straw, twine and similar materials and with a little imagination and some gold and silver color we have created unique decorations for the December holidays.

Had a great time creating pumpkin decorations with children from our local community.  Zoja painted her pumpkin in several different colours and when she was finished it looked amazing. Take a look at the pic. ;)

Has it been almost a year? 
Uff ... Sorry! 

We just needed some time to think how to continue with our web site. 
Our friend Katja came up with a great idea and here we are. 
She showed us the simplest online solution that finnaly gave us more time to post our adventures and not worry about the technology.
It's the content that matters.

As you can see we have also added a letter "Z" to our tamdej domain. 
Yes, you are right, equaly important member joined our life journey.
So, old tamdej domain is history, it is time for new tamdejZ.com!

Check our page reguraly to see what's happening with and arround us. 

Please send us an email or comment whenever you feel like it. 
We would love to hear from you. 

The main purpose of our page is still the same. 
To connect and stay in touch with our family, friends and coleagues we had pleasure to be with thru our life journey.

Love xxx
Tamara, Dejan and Zoja

P.s.: We also went mobile. Follow our page using your mobile phone, wherever you are. Jeiii :)