Life is a journey and not a destination (and how five minutes with two toddlers reminded me of this)

I recently returned to New Zealand with Anthony for my Grandad’s 90th birthday. It was a glorious trip and has inspired a torrent of writing as it reminded me of the aspects of my life that are necessary for me to feel alive and well.

“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” – thewholepantryapp.com

For me this is family and loved ones, nature, beauty, community, friends, meditation, rest, connection and New Zealand. My next few posts are going to be following this theme and tell me, what are some of the most important things to you and how do you make sure you incorporate them in your life? 

My nephews immediately make me feel alive. They are little rascals, but I love them to death.

Several weeks ago I found myself fixating on something. To the point of exhaustion. I was so intent and obsessed with achieving it and winning that big shiny trophy that I was forgetting to enjoy the steps along the way. This was swiftly brought to my attention by my nephews as I watched them immersed in play.

There I sat, perched on the corner of their sandpit, careful not to get sand on my jeans. There they stood stridently in front of me, two pairs of small feet planted firmly in the ground, encouraging me to come closer and get involved.

Isaac heaves his diggers about him chaotically; banging them to the ground, claiming the biggest as his own, before handing me the smaller, less effective truck. ‘That yours,’ he says.

We sit and we dig. Me effortlessly and absentmindedly, with very little investment in the task; them, huffing and puffing away beside me using both hands to plough their plastic spades into the sandpit that was so neatly constructed by my dad, and Wilco (Isaac’s dad). I think they got as much enjoyment out of building the fort and the sandpit as the boys do playing in it. I am taken back to when I was a child and spent hours constructing glorious houses and cities for sylvanians and dolls. The enjoyment was always in the doing, rather than in the outcome itself.

They slowly and methodically pile sand onto the back of their ‘twucks.’ Each small spadeful aiding in the process and every step as important as the next. They flatten down the sand with precision before heaving the truck onto its roof, eyes wide with glee at seeing the sand piled high before them. They look to me, waiting for me to flatten mine before grabbing my twuck and upturning it into the sand.

The boys work as if their life depends on it and they enjoy it, every step of the way.

Here are some photos of them playing at the beach, it was a joy to watch and to join in the fun.

Today I remind you to play, and enjoy it x

So there you have it, two little creatures showed me a thing or two about life and how to enjoy it today. I would love to know some of the things that keep you feeling alive, just hit reply and leave a comment.

Live for today x

How to find gratitude in the little things

This is a post filled with beauty, green food, swimming and the little things in life that make life so special.

Over the last year or so I have had to stop doing some of the activities that I loved due to a hip injury. Yoga is no longer something that I can do without feeling an intense aching in my hip for days. Running is definitely a no go, it caused immediate pain in both my knee and my hip. Even walking, at times, is something that causes discomfort. For a while there it made me feel pretty shitty about my life. Focusing on all the things I can’t do. I can’t do yoga. I can’t run. I can’t walk. I can’t dance. It felt like there was a growing list of things that I couldn’t do. My hip dysplasia, which I talked about a few posts back (you can read it here), seemed to be making me look at the negative side of life.

A friend suggested that I take up swimming using a foam accessory you stick between your legs. Sounds frightful. The professionals call them pull buoys; I prefer the term butterfly wings. When she made this suggestion there came a torrent of excuses. ‘Oh, but I don’t want to get massively broad shoulders and a really big upper body,’ To which she replied, ‘As if sweetheart, unless you’re Stephanie Rice you’re not going to get broad shoulders.’ So I tried out another, ‘But that is just so lame and boring.’ Her retort ‘Well, don’t then and continue to feel irritated.’ Ultimately, it was me just saying ‘I don’t want to.’ When you get desperate enough, you do the things you never thought you’d do and that’s when change occurs.

About two or three times a week I set my alarm for 6:30, make myself a smoothie for my journey (one of my recipes is below), grab my bag which I’ve packed the night before, and head off into the dawn. And I love it. The crisp morning air wakes me up and I love looking at all the people on the tram so early in the morning. Some of them are half asleep. Some of them are literally asleep. Others are intently peering at their iPhones or Ipads or other distracting devices we’ve come to rely on to pass the time.

At the moment it’s autumn, my favourite time of year. The colours radiate from the trees, the leaves a majestic gold. The grass is a nourishing green, definitely fit for a cow. Everything looks so pretty, so alive and fresh. Sometimes it takes my breath away. Yesterday, just outside the pool, I saw five hot air balloons flying low over my head. I remembered back to when I used to live in this area, I would wake in the early hours to the huffing and puffing of the balloons. To me it sounded as if there were dragons flying overhead, but there was something quite soothing about it

There is nothing more beautiful than slipping gently into a near empty pool as the sun beams in through the window. When I am feeling melancholy and fatigued, exercise is the last thing I want to be doing, but once I have done my 40 laps with my butterfly wings the release of endorphins in my brain takes effect and immediately lifts my mood. It is not just the rush of endorphins that keeps me going back for more, it is the quiet meditative place I take myself too that I find so utterly enjoyable. Friends have informed me of the immense boredom they experience when swimming. The tedium of swimming length after length is akin to having their eyeballs poked with a stick – on the contrary, I have found it to be infinitely gratifying. It is a form of meditation where I can remain completely in the present moment. My secret – gratitude lists. I am not joking. From the moment I get in the water to the moment I get out I do gratitude lists. Today I am grateful for … Seeing as swimming is my only form of exercise at the moment, one of the items at the top of my list is the fact that I can swim.

When I emerge from the pool there is always a group of women milling about in the changing room, fresh from their weekly aqua aerobics session chattering away together. The friendly banter that goes on is welcoming and I love the sense of community I feel in the air. As I leave the pool to catch my train I sip away on my smoothie and I feel alive. Alive, and grateful, for the life I have today.

Below is my favourite green smoothie recipe to date, I have called it Green Smoothie Goodness 🙂

 

Green Smoothie Goodness

Ingredients:

2 kiwifruit

Big slice cucumber

¼ cup puffed quinoa

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp spirulina

Small silverbeet leaf

¼ cup almond milk (or rice)

Water (enough to cover the ingredients)

 

Add all the ingredients to the blender and mix her up well!

Enjoy xx

Road Trip

I have recently spruced up my blog a little and have decided to incorporate all the creative inspiration I see around me onto one space. As a perfectionist, this is a grueling task because it is going to take trial and error. And I don’t take well to error. In saying that, however, I think it is important to push myself and to force myself – as a perfectionist – to give things a go even when they aren’t what I deem to be ‘perfect.’ What this means is that this blog is a work in progress.

I hope to aim to do weekly updates based on three themes: Creative Food; Creative Thought; and Creative Minds. I am inspired by the creativity that is all around me every day – whether that be in the kitchen, in the work of others, or in my surroundings – and for a long time I have kept these separate. But I think the time has come to combine these efforts (in some way, shape or form!) and to include them all in this lovely space. I have written more about this in My Story so feel free to read and provide feedback on how the blog is looking, or anything you choose.

Creative thought – Road Trip

I always loved a good road trip. Pity I always got sick. It wasn’t until recently, when I was talking to Anthony, that I realised this sickness was most likely due to me getting over excited leading up to the trip so that I would become almost manic in anticipation. Only to deflate on arrival and collapse in a bed of spewy childish complaints. I still do this today.

At least once a year my family would travel from Wellington to Auckland, with Mum and Dad in the front and me and one or two (and sometimes even three) of my sisters in the back. The scenery became so familiar that I knew the roads we were taking and the route we were traveling. If Mum or Dad were to venture off that road there was hell to pay.

I recall one occasion when one of my parents suggested taking the ‘scenic’ route. As a teenager scenery had little appeal, but I obliged, thinking I might see some waterfalls or horses galloping through the fields, their manes blowing in the wind. As it turned out, it was the winding road to nowhere, and it seemed to go on forever and ever as we went round and round and round. My parents had to endure endless moaning from me at every bend, and I was doing little to appreciate the beautiful (and it was beautiful) bush that surrounded me. While it did nothing to improve my appreciation for New Zealand and it’s winding roads, it created a lasting impression.

Overall though, the pleasure I get when going on a road trip is immeasurable. When I’m sitting with the stereo blasting to 70s rock and roll tunes (usually Queen) and I’m singing at the top of my lungs I feel like there is nothing in the world that could be better than that moment. It’s the notion of ‘going somewhere’ that I get when going on a road trip. It’s the connection I feel when singing along with my family or whoever it is I am roady-ing with. It’s the beauty that is New Zealand, and the stunning mountains, rivers, and countryside that whizzes by. It’s the long running jokes in my family, that leave us with tears pouring down our faces. It’s being so utterly in the moment that makes it so special.

And when we get home

we turn off the car,

and we sit.

We sit,

in silence,

in the car,

not wanting it

to be over.

 

 

ps. For a great road trip I recommend listening to The Eagles ‘Take it Easy‘ and Queens ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ and possibly reading Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ and avoiding at all costs watching Wolf Creek 🙂

What are your favourite road trip moments?

I would love to hear them.

Whisperings of Life

x

1 cup of extra virgin coconut oil*
1/2 cup honey, maple or agave syrup
1/2 cup nut butter (I used almond, but peanut or cashew would work well also)
1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder
a pinch of sea salt 

*you could also use cacao butter. – See more at: http://www.petite-kitchen.com/2013/08/the-best-nut-butter-chocolate.html#sthash.Ec5DEN9N.dpuf

1 cup of extra virgin coconut oil*
1/2 cup honey, maple or agave syrup
1/2 cup nut butter (I used almond, but peanut or cashew would work well also)
1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder
a pinch of sea salt 

*you could also use cacao butter. – See more at: http://www.petite-kitchen.com/2013/08/the-best-nut-butter-chocolate.html#sthash.Ec5DEN9N.dpuf