Lately my life has needed some sweet bubble and fizz. I needed to refuel my spirit and return to my optimistic, energised self.

I was lucky to have a night out with my beloved. We went and saw Sir David Attenborough speak about his life.

How amazing. He got me thinking about many, many things. In particular, when looking back through the decades of one’s life we remember big events and also little moments of connection  that tie us to the world we live in.

Sir David spoke about a few minutes he spent lying on the forest floor with a mother and her two baby gorillas in Africa. They were all a jumble of tangled furry, limbs in the sunshine. Although this experience occurred decades earlier, he still expressed a boyish look of wonder when discussing it.

When I look at my life so far, I also have those moments to enjoy in my heart. Want to hear about a few?

I was squatting over an open latrine in the middle of some extremely remote Cambodian jungle early one morning when I look up to see two macaques sitting a couple of metres away watching me. Well, things were well umm, underway shall I say so I said good morning. They considered me and each other a while and chittered back before swinging around and calling out across the jungle from the tree above me. They returned often in the early mornings during my stay in that patch of jungle and it was glorious. We were all interested, connected and without fear (and I quickly got used to having some of these interactions with my tail in the breeze). Amazingly lucky.

The days my children were born and placed on my chest for the first time.

When I fell in love with their father.

When I walk through a burnt temperate forest the first spring after a fire. I make friends again with my favourite ground orchid species and wildflowers.

The first time I stood on a red sand hill in Hattah Kulkyne National Park in the Mallee and had uninterrupted 360 degree views of only wilderness and heard only the breeze and birdsong.

Yesterday, walking along the beach holding my beautiful daughter’s hand.

When you look back at your life, what moments will return you to wonder? What will make your heart sing?

How do we make time in a busy world for these fibres that weave our golden nests of joy? For these nests are our comfort in challenging times. They build our resilience during hardship.

How do we get our passion pop for the soul? Easy. Start with the simple enjoyment of the little stuff, plan for some big stuff and we will find ourselves fulfilled, connected and rejoicing in our luck to have stumbled upon this life.

In the closing part of Sir David’s discussions, what did he say? He quoted Louis Armstrong.

“I see trees of green…….. red roses too