"Just say no!" I hear this a lot. People look at what's on my plate and tell me to stop saying yes to things, take time for myself, slow down. Well guess what, sometimes you just can't say no. Life is a roller coaster and right now I'm chugging my way up the steep climb to the top before the fun of the effortless, speedy decline, wind in my hair, laughing out of pure joy occurs. I used to stress about the stress of my schedule and that just made me literally almost lose my mind. Literally. And while I still have some moments of insanity, I'm getting better at not stressing over the "yes's" I continually have to say. As soon as I accepted that right now I'm in a busy season of life, everything became easier. I let up on myself and I stopped worrying about offending people with my busy schedule. I simply accepted that right now I must say "yes, I can meet from 8-10pm after class to work on our group project (even though I've been at work since 8am)" or "yes, I need some girl-time. Happy hour? (no matter what homework is waiting for me at home)" or "yes, I can attend that meeting (even though I have about 100 emails waiting for me in my inbox)" or "yes, I will be skipping out on socials and groups to complete my class assignments for the week (even though I'd rather be hanging out and I also know I'm a bit MIA right now)". So onward to another few months of yes's and the knowledge that there will be time for no's...sometime in the semi-near future.
But don't worry, I do stop to rest every so often. In fact, tonight I think I'll take advantage of that fact that today is Leap Day, which means I technically have an extra days to get things done. Normally I wouldn't have today, so I'm going to pretend it's a "freebie" day and tonight after class and a group meeting, I'm not going to open my computer, I'm not going to open my books, and I am going to open some wine and a movie. Thank you, Leap Year, for allowing me to make up an excuse to have a simply restful evening!
A simple year, huh? This whole living simply thing is a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. While I've been able to remove the clutter, the stuff, and the things behind, the busyness of life has completely taken over my life. I haven't done a very good job of finding time to rest and it seems as though life has just been too busy to be simple. I took a trip to Mexico last week, but that story is for another day. It was one of the most amazing trips of my life and exactly what I needed to restart my perspective on life. With that fresh breath of air, I've been able to take things day-by-day instead of feeling like I'm swimming for the surface to reach air and unable to ever reach the top. However dramatic this sounds, those four days changed how I view what's important in life. This past weekend I was able to complete school, work, and life's tasks without letting the nitty-gritty get to me. It was freeing. And today I did something completely unexpected that was incredibly peaceful...I swung on a swing. Yep, I know it sounds silly, but I took a little jog down to the local park on my lunch break and after my normal outdoor workout routine I was about to head home when the swings caught my eye. It's not like I haven't swung on a set of swings in a while...I've had my fair share of swinging during hang out sessions with the little tykes in my life, but this time it was just me and the swings. No one else was around. I wanted to swing.
So I hopped on those swings, took out my headphones, closed my eyes, and started to swing. Instantly, joy and peace rushed over me. It was as if I was just a kid again without a care in the world. I probably looked so silly swinging all giddy and cheerful alone out there, but it didn't matter one bit to me. I was a happy, blissful girl. Needless to say I had a little extra hop in my step during my jog back home.
This was a great reminder to myself. While that trip to Mexico was unbelievable, a simple thing like being a kid for 5 minutes on that swing did goodness for my soul. Keep it simple. Keep swinging.
It's been awhile since I've put words on a page that weren't required by work or school. Honestly, I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything on my plate - school, a mentoring program, Live a Life of Love, working full-time, Lauren Alisse Photography, and maintaining friendships. While I love it all, truly I do, I find myself swirling around in a sea "stuff", attempting to swim to the top, but never actually reaching the surface to catch a breath. But you know what I have had time to do!? Think about the future. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. It's been awful. I find myself playing out scenarios and conversations that I'm absolutely convinced will happen, but probably never will. It's unhealthy for so many reasons.
For one, if you (I use "you" in the "all of society, including myself" sense of the word) waste time thinking about what will happen, you will most certainly miss what's happening now - the smells, the sounds, the feelings of life just as it is. Even if you're in a difficult place, like I feel I am now, there's something to be said for enjoying life for what it is, as it is right now. Never again will I know the feeling of information overload about non-profit management, strategic planning, and how to increase the revenue of my small business thanks to my MBA program. Nor will coffee taste the same as it does now, because I appreciate it so much how it brightens my tired mornings. Time with friends will never mean what it does during this busy time, because there's a very specific purpose for each one of them right now. These are just a few of the small things I need to remember to appreciate each day. Every time I get caught up in the "what-ifs", I miss out on the little moments life is currently providing me.
Another reason why it's so unhealthy to worry about the future is because you can't control the future, so there's really no use stressing about it. Easier said than done, I know. But really, you can mentally prepare yourself for all sorts of different scenarios, but you won't ever know what's actually going to happen until it does. Unless you possess some super power that allows you to control people with your minds, endless amounts of worry about the future are pretty much a complete waste of energy. Instead of worrying, I'm trying to trust myself that four months from now or even five years from now when I'm faced with decisions, uncomfortable situations, and just plain life, I will be fully equipped to handle it, because I've spent the here-and-now growing, learning, and experiencing life. Each moment builds on the previous one and if you spend too much time worried about what will happen and not present - not open to learning from what's happening now, you'll never be able to handle the future you're so desperately worried about.
Be present. That's what I keep telling myself. Each time my mind starts to drift, I pull myself out of the future and focus on what I'm doing right now. Right now, I'm writing a blog. I can sense the way the keyboard feels when each finger hits the keys. I can hear the sound of the click-click-click with every punch of a letter. I'm taking in the sound of my most favorite music and the smell of my most favorite candle. And this time right now is therapy. Writing is therapy. So right now I'm ok. I'm present and I'm ok.
If anyone's seen my kitchen, you know how absolutely tiny and inconvenient it is. The cupboards are up about 10 feet high (ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration), there's hardly any counter space, and we only have 3 drawers for cooking utensils and random kitchen utilities. In order to create more space, I purchased a large wire rack from the Container Store to hold all of our appliances. I attempted to make it cute by tying curtains the to top - both to help match with the decor and to hid the mess. Let me tell you...it's SO not a cute storage rack. On top of that, we had no organization system and everything kept getting tossed and piled onto the cheap shelving units. Since this is a year of simplicity, I didn't want to take on a huge kitchen remodel (and my apartment is a rental, so you can't really do much anyway) nor did I want to spend hundreds of dollars on some fancy organization system. So instead, I purchased some plastic containers, cut up some paper, and labeled my way into organization. Gone went the Tupperware with no matching lids, gone went the appliances I've never used and will never use (but maybe someone else will), and gone went the hundreds of water bottles I've collected from events over the years. This project took my all of a couple hours to do and just that little bit of time has made me so much happier. This last weekend I had a picnic with a friend and instead of rummaging through the backs of every cupboard to find paper plates and two plastic forks, I went straight for my "paper goods" labeled box and pulled out what I needed. Oh how a little thing like that can really make your life more simple!
Before: Such a Disaster
Plastic Containers for Storage and Organization
After: So Much Better!
All hidden when closed!
I cut slits into the top of the curtain and tied it to the top of the
wire rack.
I added one more level of organization to my kitchen. By adding a colored piece of paper to a frame instead of a photo, the glass acts as a great dry erase board. Now whenever I'm cooking and realize I'm out of something, I just write it on the board. Then when I'm headed to the grocery store, I snap a photo of the frame on my iPhone and then I have my shopping list right with me.
My friend Jenn recently sent me an article from Forbes titled "How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps)". Click here
for the full article.
The article is a funny, quirky, and interesting take on things you can do to live a more interesting life - just as the title says. In honor of my Simply Simple Year, I asked some friends how they've made or are making their lives simply more interesting by doing some of the suggestions from the Forbes list.
Meet my interesting friends and their interesting lives.
Nicolle
Forbes list #1: Go exploring. Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The
inside of the echo chamber is where all the boring people hang out.
"This year is about trying things, all things even things that scare me. Last
Fall I backpacked Europe, alone, for the first time. Since then I've become
addicted to new adventures. I'm saying YES more and am open to whatever
opportunities come my way. Becoming a yogi, choosing raw and organic meals over
fried foods, exploring my voice with vocal lessons, dusting off my writing
skills for magazine articles, and picking up my guitar again to write music are
on my 2012 list."
Jenn
Forbes
list #3: Do something. Anything.
Dance. Talk. Build. Network.
Play. Help. Create. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re
doing it.
Sitting around and complaining is not an acceptable form of ‘something,’
in case
you were wondering.
"I realized I
spend way too much of my downtime on Pinterest and Hulu. I'm going to
unplug
from those for a bit. My activities for this weekend include running
sprints,
happy hour-ing, going for a walk with a friend, hiking, cleaning out my
closet,
and cooking something healthy and delicious."
Jeremy and John
Forbes list #5: Have a
cause.
If you don’t give a damn about anything, no
one will give a damn about you.
Jeremy and John are two of the four co-founders of Live a Life of Love. Their passion and cause lead them to do something...to have a purpose and to make a difference. "Live a Life of Love is a San Diego based non-profit apparel
company
that donates 100% of its profit to charity; we believe in encouraging
the world to live a life compelled and fundamentally governed by love."
Joyce
Forbes
#7: Give it a shot.
Try it out. Play around with a new idea.
Do something strange. If you never leave your comfort zone, you won’t
grow.
Joyce recently tried surf photography - something she actually turned out to be really good at.
"I
thought surf photography would be relaxing and artsy, but it actually
takes a
lot of concentration and hard work. I felt exhausted by the end of the
hour, but
the pictures inspired reactions I'd never gotten from other people
before. It made me realize that trying something new meant that I got new
reactions and
a new way of looking at people."
Callie
Forbes #9: Grow a pair. Bravery is needed to have contrary opinions
and to take unexpected paths. If you’re not courageous, you’re going to be
hanging around the water cooler, talking about the guy who actually is.
Talking about going to Africa and actually doing it are two different things. Callie made the trip - she did something so brave and so selfless.
"I traveled to Malawi and saw my sponsored child.
I saw how he lives; i saw his single mother struggles to support him and
his sister (who was stricken with Malaria). I saw their faith in God.
It doesn't get more real than that."
Me
2. Share what you discover. And be generous when you do. Not
everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your
adventures.
"I went to Europe for five weeks and blogged about my adventures. Writing was a way for me to not only tell people about how I was doing, but to reflect on how much I was learning about myself throughout the journey. Since then, I've made it a point to share my experiences and lessons - hence this blog. :)"
Without getting into too much detail, let's just say that I've lived with some awful "stomach issues" for as long as I can remember. No doctor, friend, or Google search was able to come up with a solution for me. Then I started hearing about this gluten-free thing and while I was skeptical at first, I finally caved into try it because I had pretty much tried everything else. OH MY GOSH I had no idea life could be so...um...normal. Fad or no fad, cutting gluten from my diet has changed my life completely. That and eating more simple, whole foods. I have some friends who can eat any sort of processed anything, but unfortunately/fortunately (depending on how you want to look at it) my stomach can't handle anything that's over processed. So now I'm on a quest for a lifestyle change - to eat more simple, whole, gluten-free foods (oh ya, and meat-free too...by choice not for stomach reasons). I'm only on week number three of this lifestyle change, but I'm already loving it! I eat salads a lot, but found a few more exciting yummy, simple, gluten-free recipes I wanted to share:
Peanut butter or almond butter spread on apple slices
and topped with gluten-free granola:
Avocado slices on gluten-free bread topped with a little
season salt and pepper:
Gluten free foods found at Fresh and Easy:
Portobello mushroom caps instead of pizza
dough. Top with your favorite pizza toppings.
1/2 c light corn syrup, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c peanut butter
melted together and poured over plain popcorn:
On the back on this plate is a Southwest Salad - corn, black
beans, tomato, cilantro, avocado, and cucumber. Squeeze one
lime over the entire salad and add a little salt to taste. Makes enough
for 4-6 people:
Cut sweet potatoes into wedges, drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper
A few weeks ago I unshamefully (yes, I just made that a word) shared with the world wide web my disastrous, messy, unorganized room. While the disarray in my room was exacerbated by my recent, "I must get rid of everything" raid, my ability to keep my room neat and tidy had become a daily battle because I was unequivocally faced with way too much stuff to keep tucked away in the drawers and hangers so nicely designed for said organization. I completed part 1 of Project: Simplify Home by finally going through every last piece of material objects I own and bagged up over, wait for it...25 large garbage bags of pure "stuff". Yep...over 25 bags. Slowly I moved onto Part 2: paint, refresh, redesign, and create a space that was more than a room, but a sanctuary, a study haven, a place of peace and relaxation. Since this is my year to live simply, I wanted a place where I could come back to myself. Where I could simply study quietly. Where I could simply relax. Where I could simply read. Where I could simply rest. It took a while to finish up everything, but I think my room is finally done! A bucket of paint, a day or two indoors, and some thrift store excursions was all worth it for months and months in a space that feels simply good.
First, a little re-org! By moving my bed to one side of my room and my desk to the other, I created a literal divide between my "work space" and my "rest space". Doing this helped me mentally separate the two and gave me more floor space to read on the floor (yes, I love reading on the floor), do some crunches, or maybe even a cartwheel - who knows!
Next, I got rid of the "stuff" that was just sitting there not being used. My keyboard was a good idea in theory, but I never play it and it just sat there collecting dust. I decided I needed the $60 I could get from selling it on Craigslist more than I needed it for the once a year I played it.
Time to paint! I have a wall decal of a verse that I didn't
want to lose when I painted. To keep the verse, I traced over the decal
lettering with puff paint, let it dry, then painted my wall. I left a fan on as I painted it so the puff
paint wouldn't run down my wall.
The decal before puff paint.
Starting to add the puff
paint.
Time to add the paint.
Half way there!
Done with the gray paint.
Done!
After finishing the paint and frame, I realized the look was too subtle. I wanted a way for the verse to stand out. I took a piece of cardboard and white paint and brushed it over the raised lettering. It created a vintage/worn-out look. The style may not be for everyone, but I love the way it turned out!
Close-up
With the frame - iPhone picture...sorry!
Now time to clean up that dresser/jewelry area! I got ride of so much clothes, jewelry, and accessories.
Before
After
Once I finished my "rest" side, I moved over to my "work" side.
Before
After
Here's a close up of my "inspiration frame". I wrote simple things that inspire me on tags and strung them along and empty frame. When I'm doing work or homework, I have this to look at to give me a little boost of inspiration.
And last, but certainly not least, I finally got around to hanging my favorite photos from my trip to Europe. Sometimes it feels as though Europe was a dream. But when I stop and look at these photos, it's as if I'm transported back to that special place. I get an overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness. :)
All of these frames were either a gift or I collected them at thrift stores!
