It Only Takes A Smile

All the suffering, stress, and addiction comes from not realizing you already are what you are looking for.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

I have the luxury to work this weekend at centreparcs, a little escape in the woods, filled with a waterpark, zip lining, archery, a sauna and more. It’s quite costly , but booked up throughout the year. A coworker and I marvelled at the cost and thought of so many other places we could be in nature for free.
Yet as I woke Up I realised people are not paying for just the wave pool.. they are paying for safety, ease of mind , and being in the throes of nature. 

Unplugging from the world and technology is refreshing. It enlivens us! Refuels our energy. 

There is a concept called earthing. We are to walk barefoot on grass, dirt , sand, any type of real earth. What is said to have occurs is the healing power of nature that tends to not happen with our rubber souls.

Be in nature, perhaps walk barefoot. Feel the breeze of the winds, witness the beauty of animals in the wild. And sink in what is available to you right now at this moment, which perhaps you have forgotten .

If we are too busy looking at our phones and tablets , we miss the beauty in front of us.

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Last week I attended a Racheal Yamagata performance, which was spectacular. I have been listening to her music for over a dozen years. It’s so refreshing to be in the midst of a musician in a country that is not your homeland. I live in England and as an American , I have seen her in London three times. She has brought me comfort at times during awful breakups or joy to share with my friends over the years. Rachael has transformed her pain into art which in turn assists eases our pain. We know we are not alone in our solitary melancholy moments. She gives a voice to our sadness , stating what we may have difficulty verbalising. 

I was able to introduce her to my husband, who also has fallen in love with her passionate voice .

I had the honour of meeting her last fall and this last week, I voiced this all to her. What a gracious and kind woman, probably one of the sweetest musicians I had ever met. Thanks for all you do Rachael and every other artist out there :). 

Prior to us meeting her, there was a late 40 something British woman and her friend chatting up Yamagata. This woman joked to her that she was one of her biggest fans even a stalker. Rachael filmed a video for her saying “you stalked me, now I’m going to stalk you.” The woman was gushing , and her friend had to tear her away. She just didn’t want to leave .

If you ever have the opportunity of meeting someone to admire, express your gratitude. I am sure they keep those kind words and moments close to their heart, just as you do.

So often we forget how beautiful life can be. We take for granted the Colors we see. How amazing this is!

Yesterday my friend gave me the most amazing gift … a card holder which happens to be Louis Vuitton . The reason why I love it isn’t because of the designer nature of it (always a plus), but it’s because of the thought behind the card. She remembered the last time I saw her two years ago that I gave out the gratitude cards to bartenders, baristas, or waiters.

I rarely have a card holder for them in my purse . It’s just randomly mixed in my purse along with makeup, receipts, and random pens. 

Now I have a special card holder bought just for this purpose of gratitude sharing . And it was purchased by someone else who recognised and remembered the act of kindness. In turn She offered back an act of kindness. 

In my everyday life , I frequently get off track with giving away these cards . I find  I give them generally just for travelling, but this holder now  further reminds me of the Intention I set. these Small little cards serve a purpose.

Sometimes we need this in life, little reminders or nudges to get us back on on our path. Is how we live the day being demonstrated in how we act or intended to act towards others ? Our path is never far and can always be returned to.

What can you nudge yourself to return to? 

PS thanks jennie , you don’t know how much this means to me:)

Anything can be turned into a piece of art, even leftover caps of insulin shots. How beautiful it is that each piece of colour in this piece reminds the nurse artist of specific patients . All special , al complex , and all part of a bigger whole .

I am not a runner.  if I had the strength and determination to make it so close to the finish line , and my legs gave out, I would hope people could support me like this. Proof that angels work in disguises sometimes

This year I vowed to do one thing each month I was afraid of.  

January:ecstatic dance

February:signing up for a home exchange and planning an impromptu trip 

March: going to an outdoor spa in Iceland !

Grant it , I was both intrigued and scared . All of these activities are a mixture of intrigue and fear. 

But the more I commit to this mini project, the more proud I feel of myself. I am surrounded by interesting and amazing people I may have never been exposed to. I’ve formed fabulous stories, all in trying to overcome fear on various levels.

I begin to question what else is holding me back.

I realise I have mini fears of many things. Yesterday , when we came upon a frozen lake and I saw people walking and sliding on it, fear arose. What if the frost cracked and we fell in.

But fear was replaced by opportunity. 

Kids have no fear , at what age does that arise for us? There is a question many leaders ask themselves …”what would you do if you weren’t afraid?” 

Take action, and see what arises in your life .

In recent years I have had an increased fascination with seeing the northern lights. What I could expect was to not have expectations . You could spend days during lights season searching for them, but never find anything . As we took our five hour bus tour from Reykjavik last night, our tour guide reminded us this. Tours even offer a free tour if you see no lights. It’s this common.

And so as we drove away from town, on a northern route, calculated from the projected cloud coverage of the evening . We quickly found an area where a siting would be probable. It was as if we were searching for ghosts. And in some way it was.

As we stood there in negative Celsius temperatures. We hoped for something .

And as we stood, our eyes had to adjust to the evening. Minutes passed and we watched and what appeared looked like clouds , but were lights. Difficult for the naked eye to see, but expresses itself more fully with a professional camera. 

As time stood still, and I stopped fidgeting with my phone and functions. I realised watching the Aurora borealis was a spiritual experience . I blocked out everyone else trying to capture the moment on digital imagery. And simply lived it. 

Iceland is magical.

Men knitting to break down barriers and build kindness