.SOMETIMES RAW.

What are some ways to achieve calmness in your life? First, pare away the things you don’t need. Live an infinitely simple life free from unnecessary anxiety or worry, without being swayed by other people’s values. The variety of what people talk about is endless, but if I were to generalize, I would classify the major problems as anxieties, worries and doubts. When I listen carefully to these concerns, here is what I notice: almost all of them are in fact delusions, assumptions, mistaken impressions, or imaginary fears. I might even say they lack any substance. The truth is, if we look at them objectively, I find that we often allow ourselves to fear shadows that aren’t really there. Maybe this sounds familiar: something you were worried about was weighing you down, but then a random comment or occurrence made you realise how insignificant it was and you were amazed by how much lighter you felt. I want to share some thoughts that help me when things get tough.

• Reduce, let go, leave behind.
• Don’t compare yourself to others.
• Focus on “Now” and cherish yourself
• Don’t burden yourself or drag yourself down
• Pare down your belongings. It will lighten both your mind and body
• Just be, as you are. Don’t focus on things you have no control over
• Be gracious
• Recognise limitations. We can only work within our own abilities
• Concentrate only on things you can achieve here and now. By doing so, you will stop thinking about unnecessary things.
• Reconsider the obvious. You will realize the happiness to be found in the present moment
• Don’t rush, don’t panic. Once a day, make sure to stand still
• Respond positively. It is okay to feel down but get yourself up again soon.
• Cherish the morning – the best way to create mental space.
• Live by your own standards. Don’t be swayed by other people’s values
• Don’t seek out the unnecessary. Stop binging on too much information
• Shine wherever you find yourself. If not now, when?
• Don’t go against your feelings.
• Make your evenings calm. Late at night is not the time to make big decisions.
• Step away from competition and things will fall into place. Everyone is their own person, and I am who I am!
• Don’t fixate on victory or defeat. It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose.
• Keep at it. Slow and steady. Do this before you envy others’ talents.
• Use the right words. Words possess awesome power
• Accept your circumstances, whatever they may be.
• Stop complaining. Change!
• Do today’s things today -the secret to feeling unconstrained in life.
• Be more tolerant. You be you and let others be themselves.
• Go with the flow. Solitude is fine, but isolation is not.
• Don’t just talk for the sake of talking.
• Eat and drink with your whole heart.
• Even when big storms are coming, do not shake.
• Every day is a good day.
• All things come from nothingness.
• Have a flexible mind. Accept things you cannot change.
• Change the air in your home. Do this first thing, as soon as you wake up in the morning.
• Breathe deeply.
• Cherish your connections. It’s no accident that you happened to meet these people.
• Make good connections.
• Spend ten minutes a day in nature.
• Admit errors. Not only in words but make the effort to convey this emotionally as well.
• Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Someone will be there to lend a hand.
• Be a good listener. Relationships are about give and take.
• Don’t base decisions on profits and losses. Relationships not based on personal gain will shine of their own accord.
• Love & Marriage: Words of appreciation make a good relationship. Even in matters of love, moderation is just right.
• Children: Helicopter parenting plants seeds of worry.
• As you prepare to meet your end, what are the words you would like to be remembered by?

I encourage you to consider writing down your own feelings about anything. Like in a notebook, a journal, whatever makes you happy. Please share your comments below.

I love this time of year when leaves change colour and die right in front of me. Nothing prettier than a deceased leaf hanging from a tree in its final few moments on earth. It makes me want to wrap an oversized scarf around my neck and take a walk through the carnage. Stunning.

What I like most in this season of decay is how cozy I feel in a sweater. The air is crisp, the sun is bright, and the death rattle of falling leaves reminds me that there’s a season for everything. And this one is for dying and being dead. Makes me feel like going to an orchard and murdering some apples for pie.

Do you hear the wind gently rustling the trees? That’s the sound of a million leaves meeting their maker. Soon, I’ll rake their shriveled, broken husks, then let them rot and mold on the lawn while repeatedly saying, “I should really bag up those leaves.” What a magical time of year, when the world gives up and dies.

I love when small dogs wear sweaters and boots and shiver uncontrollably. I sit on my front porch with a warm mug of tea between my hands, watching nature fight for its life. The world feels still because it’s slipping into an extended, deep unconsciousness and/or death. Soon, the hearty bear will crawl into a hole and get as close to dying as possible by choice.

Sometimes I feel strangely sad when everything is dark, dead, and frozen. I can’t get my head right while my brain withers and begs for sunlight. Luckily, some holidays are coming up, so I can accrue debt, eat food that gives me gas, and feel anxious around my family. When the new year comes, I’ll declare, “This will be the best year yet!” Then watch new horrors unfold every day from my winter depression nest on the couch.

When the snow finally snuffs out the last bit of life, I look around and think, lovely. Each snowflake is unique, just like me. But without the distress of being different that leads to mental instability. Lucky! I will hurt my back shoveling my car out of the snow, so I can eventually skid into a ditch and call my friend crying.

There is truly a season for everything, and this one is for contracting the flu and every furnace dying on the coldest night of the year, which is the only time we ever need them, but they’re dead. How do you feel about autumn and the winter season? Obviously, there are many really cool things about this season, too. Like reading. All the time. Curled up with as much tea as possible, a blanket, and close to my personal library is bliss.

How about you? Please do share below. Stay warm.

I don’t know if you know, but I am a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and have a pretty healthy, balanced lifestyle. Minus the daily occasional Lindt Noisette Chocolate in the evening. One has to admit, there are just so many (food) choices out there. With all the new food trends, superfoods, lotions, supplements, and potions, it is easy to lose track of what to eat and what not. And how to live and how not to. And when to meditate, and practice Yoga, Pilates, go jogging, and work and keep one or more children alive. I try to keep it as simple as possible (with everything in life), use whole foods whenever possible and cook simple recipes, preferably at home. If you have more questions, send me an email if you would like.

To keep it simple, one easy thing that everybody can do is to drink a glass of lemon water first thing in the morning. This is a healthy way to start the day and get the body detox going. You can even add some cucumber slices. On an empty stomach which means before you pound down the half liter of coffee to get you to work and the second liter to keep your eyes open. This won’t be a health article per se but more a funny twist on my morning lemon water drink. So this is what happened the other day when I had my morning glass of lemon water. Or didn’t it happen? I am not so sure anymore. You know by now that funny, weird things tend to happen to me all the time.

So, I wake up and drag my tired body out of the bed, to the bathroom and to the kitchen. There are some lemons, and the faucet. And me. And my eyes barely open. Just a normal morning.

The faucet fills my glass with water, but I don’t dare take a sip yet. As I squeeze the lemon into my drink, I mentally levitate. It’s true that I am now earthier and less judgmental. With just one sip of lemon water, I feel myself become effortlessly radiant. Wow, what is happening to me? So much energy out of a sudden. My eyes are wide open. I feel like Mary Poppins who is about to clean the entire house, split an atom and find a cure for AIDS. Maybe too much energy? Who knows.

I even skip my morning coffee because I’m high on vitamin C. My body is detoxing, and I feel more in tune with the miraculous rhythms of life. I tell my boss I won’t be coming to work today, or ever again. My job has made me so tired lately anyway. When my boss sends me a threatening email to come back ASAP, I don’t answer but have another sip of lemon water instead. My senses feel heightened, and I am suddenly porous to the universe and all it offers me. Besides, I am Mary Poppins, I think while I put my running gear on. Who needs work anyway?

During my eight-kilometer run, I barely sweat. A passerby points at me, asking whether I’ll give the eulogy at his funeral. I am now an empath and tell him his uncurable disease is not actually a death sentence. Has he tried lemon water? I imagine a cable news anchor asking me what it feels like to save lives for a living.

After soaking in the hot tub for an hour, I am pruned and immortal. I fry an egg in a perfect circle. I meditate with my eyes open. I became bilingual after watching a French movie for fifteen minutes. I get Wordle in two guesses. You don’t have Wordle yet? The app? Stop reading any fruther and download it now!

Is this how Neil Armstrong felt when he set foot on the moon?

When my friend walks into the kitchen, I feel more attracted to him than ever. The argument we had last night feels like a poem, abstract and far away.

“Want some lemon water, babe?” I say, giving him a toothy smile.

“No,” he responds, but I can tell he’s super in love with me. I squeeze him a glass anyway, knowing he’ll thank me later.

It’s true that I started the argument for no reason but wasn’t it the Dalai Lama who said forgiveness breaks the cycle of suffering?

I notice my screaming child in the living room, drawing on the walls with a magic marker, but I no longer allow his toxic energy to consume my life. I stare at him and decide this is the moment I shall set him free. I am no longer a mother, a thankless job. I give him a quartz crystal and wish him good luck on his journey.

While sitting under a tree in a hemp muumuu, I ponder whether I should become a novelist or a shaman. Realizing I have only a background in the former I am going with the latter because I no longer have limiting beliefs about my potential. I take a three-hour nap, then buy a journal and five hundred lemons, and sell the rest of my earthly possessions.

I book a one-way ticket to Bali. As the plane’s wheels lift during take off, I smile to myself and muse, “When life hands you lemons…”