Deciding on less and more

I can easily write a lengthy list of what I want more of. For some reason, more seems to strike a chord... and it makes me focus on what I don't have. But when I bring less into the equation, the opposite presents. I find myself dwelling on what I don't need, what I can discard, what I truly need to be happy {and it turns out that's not many things at all}. 

In learning the art of balance and in a bid for clarity, I write my more or less list each year. It begins with a fair bit of thought, but eventually the words just roll onto the page, unfolding into a manifesto of sorts that resonates with my heart. Here it is.

Less screens, more books
Less sugar, more protein
Less procrastination, more meditation
Less talking, more listening
Less worry, more gratitude
Less criticism, more praise
Less fear, more love
Less rushing, more moments
Less doing, more just being

xx

Will you give the less and more list a go? Do you do a similar exercise, and has it helped you? Love to know your thoughts. Leave me a message or link below or even shoot me an email if you create your own list. I'd love to have a read. Elisa xx 


~~~~~~~~ Love some free prints and affirmations to inspire your everyday? You can leave your email here! Can not wait to send this bundle of mindfulness prints + affirmations to you next month. Elisa xx ~~~~~~~~ 

Catching my breath + the happiest news

I've spent the past two months catching my breath (courtesy of a whirlwind of work, nausea, preparations for end of kinder / start of school for miss five, and exhaustion). 

And searching for more breath. (When breathwork is at the core of your meditation practise, a family of four taking turns at gastro then two weeks of a lingering cough/cold certainly gets in the way). 

And then finally making time to just breathe. 

And this time around just breathing meant abandoning a few of things I wanted to be doing, mainly being here writing about new-found joy, excitement, anticipation and all the growth these past five months have entailed.

Instead I found myself sitting a lot, witnessing, reflecting. And watching my girls (now five and three) ever so closely. All of sudden they seem so big, so grown up. I want to bottle their energy as it is now, to savour and remember these moments. I've felt scared I'll forget the little things they say, their laughter as it is now, us as we are now. Each day they are growing, changing, learning, and it felt like I couldn't keep up. 

A fortnight ago miss three and I sat in the grass. She picked daisies. I sat down to breathe, to stretch and soak up the sunshine, my camera by my side; and all the while admiring her abundance of energy - energy I was lacking. 

After beheading more daisies then her little hands could hold, she decided to slow down, join my pace and copy my pose - that's her in the image above.

And it was then I felt myself taking a deeper breath and only then noticing the breath cycle I'd be living in, despite stopping to breathe being a focus in my days.

It was then I realised I don't need to keep up with my girls, I just need to show up. To be there in the moment with them as much as I can; to love them; to be a witness to (and encourage) their curiousity, creativity, kindness, wonder and love; to share my heart with them and to sit back and soak up our days and our rhythms (even the messy ones) with a big breath. And to know and accept that there will be times I'll wish I'd done things differently. 

And as I step into week 21 of growing our newest baby girl - hopefully that explains my nausea, exhaustion and absence from the blog :) - I'm breathing easier than before; and making wishes for a new year with joy and love as our guides.

xx

How are you? Are you breathing freely? Any happy news to share? xx    

Sunday mornings

There always seems to be something happening on a Saturday and normally I'm flying solo in the parenting duties with hubby at work. But Sundays? Lately they are slow, filled with family and moments that make my heart soar. A part of me would like to say they're spontaneous, but truth is we're intentionally creating our Sundays this way. This morning he ran laps around the oval, the girls chased and I watched on while playing with my camera. Everybody was happy.

xx

How do your weekends go? Do you have an intentionally slow, family-filled time scheduled in?

This view

When we bought this house, I had a wish list.

I wanted and wished and hoped we'd find a place with a bedroom for each of our girls, a study to work in {and meditate in too}, an open-plan living area, a backyard large enough for a swing set and a kitchen with a five-burner stove top so I could could keep on cooking three variations of the one meal at dinner time {to accommodate for everyone's dietary requirements here}...

I was so grateful when we found a place that ticked all those boxes. In what felt like a very close call, but was actually perfect timing.

But the best part of this house is it feels like home.

We're so happy here. We were happy almost instantly. And so were our girls.

And I love most that we're really living in this house. There's mess and two little girls thumping on the floorboards as they chase each other, play hide and seek, dance like fairy ballerinas and run around roaring like lions and tigers too.

Yesterday we sat outside eating watermelon and grapes and I realised {and learnt} my favorite part of this house isn't those things I wanted in our house at all. It's being here together, and looking at the view.

Each morning I step outside, look out and the first thing I see is the sky. And it amazes me and takes my breath away at times too.

We bought this house on the rainiest, stormy day when the sky was filled with clouds {a day that looks much like today here actually}, and when I stood on the decking all I saw was a haze of grey.

But for the past few months, we've been looking directly out at a glimpse of hills and houses and a big bright blue and wondrous sky.

xx

What do you love most about where you live?

Finding joy

 

 

Maybe it's this summer weather that's giving me this light feeling right now.

Bright, {mostly} refreshed, welcoming each day, noticing moments {and allowing them to linger longer}, finding positives in every negative, opening my eyes {and seeing with my heart}.

I'm happy. And maybe summer {and it's bright sun-shining days} helps, but I do think it's more.

I think it's just that it's taken me this long {this year} to finally find me again, and the season just happens to be summer {my favourite}.

What I've noticed {learnt}, is that in the challenging {and trying, exhausting, uncertain and fearful} times, I always see hope. I believe in life and a better day {and creating a better me} no matter the circumstances {what life throws my way}.

And this feeling that I haven't been able to express in a single word. I've worked it out. It's joy.

My heart says joy is happy + gratitude {together}.

With joy, I see {and am grateful for} so much more.

And with joy, every experience/moment/capture means a little something more.

Joy {happy + gratitude} this week:

~ The colours in the night sky {and watching and waiting for them with miss three}.

~ The view from wherever I {we} stand. {Grateful we're together; no matter where we are}.

~ The gentleness of the little hand that holds mine {mindful of this ever since I read this post}

~ My wonderful man who walks through the door every night with energy for all three of us {when I know so much how exhausted he really is}.

~ Smiling into the sunshine, feeling it's warmth on my face {and letting it soak within}.

~ The clarity that comes from talking things through {and having someone there to listen}.

~ Books as gifts {to rekindle inspiration}.

~ Talking about my emotions, and teaching little miss three to identify hers in the process. {Did you know grumpy sounds like this? Gru-humph-blah}

~ Having the beach close by. {Sinking our toes into the wet sand, and waiting for the rush of the next wave}.

As I contemplated this eventful year this morning, I made joy my wish.

 

To seek joy {and find joy} in the little things, and the big. But mostly to let moments of joy linger and last, and teach me more about happiness {and love}.

xx


{Linking with gratitude to Maxabella & Kidspot's 52 Weeks of Grateful.}

{Oh, and my heart is inspired by every single post at Rachel's Finding Joy. It's here. xx}

Did your week include joy? What are you most grateful for?

Gratitude. Like magic.

A few months ago I stopped each night to recall {and write} a moment or two of happiness in my day. The more I kept at it, the more I noticed how happy my days were, and the more I seemed to {re}connect with happiness {and understand what makes me truly happy}.

The past couple weeks I've been doing this same ritual with gratitude. When I do stop to check-in with my heart {where gratitude resides, I think} I notice all the little things that bring joy to my days {and the gratitude I have for them}.

But it's the regular day-to-day happenings I have been drawn to most. The normal, ordinary {in my day} things. The ones I could so easily miss. Noticing these moments {and being thankful for them} seems to make each day stand out as special.

When my days {lately} feel like they're stringing together in one continuous thread, I try to allow this gratitude to slow me down. And I visualise these {grateful} moments threading our days together like magic.

Grateful:

For two little girls who often sleep at the one time {and the sound of almost-silence that fills the house}.

To lie still for 10 minutes and do nothing {just let my mind body and breath float}.

For a little girl who gallops to greet me, scrambles to get in my arms and then whispers {in the softest sweetest voice} I love you mummy.

For sunshine. And the man and two little people I shared it with.

Little miss two asking if we can sing together. I think I'm getting better!

Mums who say it like it is. So much strength given in the honest sharing.

Proper moving boxes. Donated our way.

Yoga. My body, heart, mind and soul thank me after my weekly class.

For the words "I'm proud of you". They give strength. {I've spoken them and heard them this week}.

For the moment I tucked my sleeping baby into bed and her little arms grabbed my face and drew me back in.

For the moment I tried to roll out of little miss two's bed {without her noticing} and her little arm wrapped around my neck bringing me back for a nose-to-nose cuddle {"just one more"}.

For the weekend to come {with it's promise of family and food}. Grateful for every opportunity we can all come together to share a meal.

xx

{Linking with gratitude to Maxabella & Kidspot's 52 Weeks of Grateful.}

What are you grateful for this week?


　

　

　

Thursday

I've been pondering the happiness of my little girls.

The way they beam and shine when I give them my full attention. {Listening with my eyes and my ears. Listening with my heart.}

I see it in their little cherub faces. How good that makes them feel. {Loved, valued, wanted, wonderful, appreciated}.

I've done a great job of making life busy lately and even though I stopped to slow it all down, I forgot to give myself the time to soak in this feeling too.

That heart-warming heart-filling feeling of I've been heard, noticed, loved, appreciated. {Without any interruptions}.

It fills you up. {Nourishes you}. Gives you energy. {And love}.

It fills you up with more love to give.

Elisa xx

{On Thursday I felt all of this. So this week I'm most grateful for Thursday, and for those that listened to me {with their ears and hearts and without interruptions} My heart and my soul felt heard on Thursday. It put at least a dozen apples in my basket, I'm sure xx}

{Linking with loads more gratitude over at Kidspot's 52 Weeks of Grateful.}

What do you feel grateful for this week?

Happy?

Sometimes I sit back and can see my day divided up like a grid. {Packaged into little parts}.

Fractions of things done: sleeping, playing, cooking, eating, cleaning, reading, writing, cooking, cleaning, loving, holding, eating, playing, cooking, cleaning.

And fractions of words said, questions asked, instructions told, melodies of praise and love {and frustrations spoken too}. 

But the parts that stand out are the ones filled with laughter and smiles, and when little miss two asks me her one-word question: Happy?

I tell her: "Yes, I'm happy".

She beams, and tells me, "Happy too".

And I'm thinking: I love your company. And I love our days. {And YOU make me happy}.

And I love that you know what happy is {and what happy feels like}. I love that you know what makes you happy.

Lately it's my little girl's happy question that stands out most in the grid of my days.

In her world, happy is found in laughter {and rolling on the ground}, yoga and building blocks, omelets and pasta, babycinos {and trips to the park}, watching the water at the beach, throwing a ball, dancing like ballerinas, pretending we're birds and butterflies {and rockets too}. 

Happy is us together {doing all of this}. But mostly, I'm noticing that her happy is when my eyes and ears are together listening to her at the same time {and my heart too}.

Elisa xx

What part of your day makes you most happy?

{pic of my little girl by me ~ made black & white via instagram @withgraceandeve}

Happiness is here and here and here

I'm finding happiness in the strangest places, at the oddest times, and in moments that seem like nothing but feel like everything.

Inspired by the "Happy Days in May" project over at Seven Cherubs, I decided to keep a happiness journal this month. Each night I've recorded a little something that has made me happy each day. Just a sentence, fragment or two.

Now 21 days in, I looked over my happy notes and found most days my girls are my happy. No surprise there. I love them more than I knew possible, so of course they're giving me endless bursts of happiness.

But what did surprise me is the little moments of seeming nothingness that brought happiness to my body, mind and soul...

...Ten minutes of stretching in bed in the morning. Waking my body slowly, gradually, gently, with ease. {A contrast to the usual bound out of bed to get little miss two her fix of yoghurt and Dora}...

...Running outside in the grass barefoot at little miss two's request {I felt free, boundless, refreshed}...

...Sitting down for five minutes {and listening to the tick-tock of the kitchen clock, drinking a HOT cup of tea, and savouring two pieces of dark chocolate}...

...Lying down and listening to the sounds of close-to-silence for 10 minutes as my babies slept...

I had no idea my life had so much happy moments going on until I started recording it. And it's made me notice more and more that what we focus on, we create. Just like my focus on gratitude, this happiness caper is making life that little bit sweeter, lighter, healthier. I wonder what's next...

Elisa xx


What {or who} is making you happy today?