Thursday. Evening. Kata. Love & Cork.

Today, Charlotte and I are celebrating our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. This year’s milestone is apparently called a “Cork Anniversary,” in Sweden, and if, like me, you’re wondering why cork, here are a few possible explanations.

It’s called a “Cork Anniversary” perhaps because the cork symbolizes flexibility and adaptability – qualities needed for a marriage to last. Cork is also a natural material that ages well and can recover even after stress– another fitting metaphor for a long-lasting marriage.

Moreover, cork floats, and anyone who has been married for a while knows that it’s important to stay afloat when the waves are stormy.

One of the younger American girls who is doing the teacher training and practices Hot Yoga with us daily here asked me yesterday what our recipe is for maintaining such a long relationship.

I gave her my standard answer: A combination of all our travels, our creative collaboration, a sizable dose of humor and the ability to laugh together and at each other.

Our travels give us inspiration and move us forward when we’ve been stuck in a rut for too long, and the creative process provides us with challenges that fine-tune our ability to cooperate and push our little company forward.

We decided a long time ago to forego career, prestige, and material possessions. Instead, we’ve focused fully on taking on new creative challenges and collecting new travel experiences together, along with the result of our finest collaboration: daughter, Elle Agnes.

It was to Phuket we went on our honeymoon in 1998, so it feels extra special to celebrate our anniversary here twenty-six years later.