My Lotus Years

A Preview

BEWARE ALL YE WHO ENTER THIS DEN OF SIN, THIS TEMPLE TO TEMPTATION:

This area contains a dangerous life form: A harlot. A woman of whoredom.

Turn away if you are offended by lewdness and nudeness. The devil is in the detail:

Armpit hair. Pubic hair, especially. Shaggy, wiry. Unapologetically unshorn.

Placed here with the intention of inciting lustful thoughts and cravings.

Proceed at your own risk etc.

About

The Lotus Eaters

"Who amongst us has not, at some time, selfishly dreamed of forsaking

his affairs, to settle in some enchanted island and live without worries." (George Sand )

A mysterious island where its inhabitants live in a perpetual state of euphoric intoxication? A life of eternal bliss and joyful surrender?

Sign me up, I say!

I was still in high school when I first read about the lotophages in the Odyssey. Of all the villainous creatures the seafarers had to con-tend with, the lotus eaters were the odd ones out. Monsters, witches, vengeful gods they were not. They didn't threaten to eat, curse or kill the Greeks. But, our teacher said, the danger they posed was far more insidious. What they did was to lure the crew into sharing their lifestyle of unrestrained pleasure-seeking.

And what's so very wrong with that, I thought.

But I didn't say it out loud in class. Even then I knew of the stigma attached to people who went against societal norms.

The lotus eaters weren't a bunch of debauched addicts.

I didn't read the story as a cautionary tale against corruption and vice, the seductive powers of narcotics induced oblivion.

What the bards described as apathy and a refusal to face the real world, I read as a conscious decision to strive for a life of peaceful contentedness away from the mainstream. Who among us has not dreamed of escaping the everyday, to sweep away that which is dull or tedious and walk down a different path?

A path to what?

For some, it's passion and pleasure.

For others, it's to indulge in something noncommittal and fleeting.

To be someone else, or be exactly themselves.

The letting go of restraints and inhibitions.

An unleashing of pent-up desires.

The numbing of pain, grief, loneliness.

The lure of the strange, a curiosity to dabble.

The thrill of the forbidden.

Whatever your reason for becoming a lotus eater, your journey of discovery has brought you here. Welcome.

My Lotus Years

Someone once said, we all live a life of shattered dreams, of fractured relationships. We walk in the dark, alone.

As cliche as it sounds, there has to be darkness for there to be light.

I had to lose myself to find myself. And when I did, I decided to remake my life, to make it as close as I could to a dream I had:

A life of luxury.

“Luxury is to be able to take control of one’s life, health and the pursuit of happiness in a way that is joyful.”

(Andre Leon Talley )

Luxury is about grace, its true wealth defined by ease and comfort.

It is not a carefree life. In fact, it allows you to care more, about yourself, about others. A life without ease is one where you constant-ly have to deny yourself, your instincts, your dreams. Grace is the freedom to make of life what we will. I wanted this: simplicity and enjoyment. And then, to share my dream with those who dream alike. A dream within a dream.

To those who yearn for secret trysts in secret places, I want to walk down those corridors with you.

To those who feel caged by the boundaries of convention, I want to explore the hidden parts of you.

To those who feel exhausted by the demands of the world, I want to create a space where worries fade and time stands still.

This, my new life, is my enchanted island.

These are my lotus years.

This is where we meet.

Zoey Chant

Are your pictures photoshopped?

You bet they are!

I've made sure that any image of me is scrubbed of all identifying marks. Scars, moles, stretch marks, freckles, tattoos, from the shape of my nostrils, lips, ears, hands, feet, the way I style my hair, down to the bleeding belly button. A real pain in the bunghole, but in this data-as-currency driven world, I value my privacy and keep my biometrics to myself, thank you very much.

So do the images bear any resemblance to me at all? you wonder.

You can take away the markers, but what an image does is capture the essence of a person. The shapes and lines of my body, my proportions, spirit and personality, these are true representations of me. Yeah, and also those nipples.

More FAQs >>

FAQ

More Selfies >>

Selfies

Favorite Things

Song: Lunch cover by girl in red, Never Gonna Give You Up cover by Vacations

Book: Shattered by Hanif Kureishi, We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver,

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci

Movie: Mr Long

Stand Up: Emo Majok, Godfrey, Flame Monroe, Ali Wong, Ron Josol, Douglas Lim

Sweet: Kentucky bourbon butter cake, strawberries & cream, a really good scone | croissant

Savory: pork/fois gras pate, Taggiasca olives, prosciutto | jamon, Peking duck, suckling pig

Drink: Wild blueberry juice, Gimber, Dita, Mars Maltage Cosmo, Pouilly-fume, Earl Grey

Guilty pleasure: French fries, chicken nuggets and a coke float

Leisure: Long train rides listening to audiobooks, hot springs, monastery retreats

What's your pleasure?

Contact

mylotusyears@proton.me

Sintempolino

A free-wheeling dinner date

Recommeded for all who like to do things with a broad margin. You like to get to know a person, you like conversation to flow freely, to linger over a good meal. Dessert first or dessert last?

Tempolargo

The big brother of the Sintempolino

Take a day off and come away with me.

It's a commitment, but sometimes you just have to throw your cares to the wind and treat yourself.

Alahora

For the passionate but time poor.

Or: If you can't have the whole cake, take a slice.

Spoilers Only

For the generous gifters out there who like to spoil a girl with little treats,

a curated list of things useful and indulgent that are sure to put a smile on my face.