When I was pregnant with my baby girl my prenatal yoga teacher would often remind us to do nothing extra.
The interpretation of extra will be different for each of us. But in my heart to do nothing extra is to...
Do just what is necessary {needs to be done today}, and leave things for tomorrow.
Take time each day to rest.
Stop {even for a couple minutes} to just be.
To let go of shoulds and shouldn'ts {and surrender}.
To listen to my body's messages.
And to me this message to do nothing extra is also a little lesson in trust.
Trusting that there will {in the end} be time for all I want to do, achieve and see.
Trusting that time is on my side.
Believing in perfect timing, and the time that tomorrow will offer.
Especially during pregnancy, this was a reminder to be gentle with myself, to not take on extra and to surrender my want to control how life was panning out {as we endeavoured to sell our house and search for another, I finished a course and worked three days from home}. It was a reminder I needed and appreciated very much at that time.
But those three words {do nothing extra} have stayed with me, and every so often I remember them and know it's time to pull back. Slow down even further. Time to reconnect, ground and just be.
This week that reminder came. Actually I think it's been hovering close to home for weeks now. And so I turned inward, journalling a little more, meditating and reading a little extra.
I spent a good while looking around at all I wanted to do, at all I saw needed to be done and making lists... and then I stopped right there. And lay on the ground with my girls.
This week I spent a few days doing just the necessary, and nothing much extra.
And in doing less, I found there was time for more {of what matters most}.
xx
{This week I'm most grateful for all the little messages that inspire my days, for time spent just being, and for the beautiful conversations I've had with the many amazing women in my life. Elisa xx}
~ Linking with the gratitude community at 52 Weeks of Grateful x
What are you most grateful for right now? Any messages/reminders currently inspiring your days? x
On Monday I felt amazing. Connected. Excited. {On the eve of something new}.
So I busied about with purpose, setting goals and making wishes {and embarking on projects new}.
By Wednesday, I was brimming with purpose, achievement and anticipation. {Finally ready to take the first steps on project change}.
By the night my head was hazy and throat sore {and my mind filled with dreams of sleep}.
Sleep arrived in one-hour bursts {slumber broken by a teething baby and crying toddler}.
Then morning came and the day felt like it should be night {the excitement of Monday a faded memory}.
On Friday I sat gazing at a journal filled with projects, hopes, goals and actions {questions and dreams}.
I wanted to feel the passion and desire to create, learn and share {to take a chance and dream something new} that I felt when all those ideas were put on paper days before.
But all I could think of was sleep {so sleep, rest and going slow is what I did}.
This weekend I've still been moving slowly, and trying to go gently too.
And I've reminded myself that time is on my side {not everything needs to be done right away}.
And with another day ending and a new week almost here I've realised I will conquer all those dreams and projects.
And I will arrive where I want to go {in time, and in the end}.
Elisa xx
Ever get excited about starting something new, then life halts you in your tracks?
It's been a week of fast {and slow}. Fun {and miserable}. Healthy {and sick}. Loud {and quiet}. Exhausted {and exuberant}.
There's been very little writing {my soul has missed it most}, and reading has been less too. Many thoughts {and daydreams} of sleep. And sighs over goals and projects planned {but never begun}.
Normally life's somewhere in the middle {minus the sick part - I'm grateful that health is most often constant}.
And I'm embarrassed to admit that in the low parts, gratitude was very far from what I felt. I saw what I didn't have {and I dwelled there for longer than I care to share}.
But now, as I sit in relative quiet waiting for my peppermint tea to brew, I can see grateful was there {is there} all week {even when I was too consumed to let it in}.
I'm grateful for a laughing baby {happily snuggled in her great-grandmother's arms}.
I'm grateful for roasted almonds {and dark chocolate too}.
I'm grateful for my little miss two who with limited words, chooses them so well {"I kiss your head better Mummy" "No worries, be alright" "I love you"}.
I'm grateful for a warm bed to sleep in every night {and the man I share it with}.
I'm grateful for my body's message to slow down {even if I didn't appreciate it's delivery in the form of a cold}.
I'm grateful for the colours of sunset {that surprised me with beautiful reflections through the frosted panel on our front door}.
I'm grateful for long walks with water views {and a little girl who loves to search for planes in the sky}.
Elisa xx
{Linking with loads more gratitude at Kidspot's 52 weeks of Grateful}
What are you feeling grateful for this week?
This week I've heard myself saying to my little miss two...
Go slowly. Everything is easier when you go slowly and gently.
I'm so proud of you.
One step at a time. Just take one step at a time.
We don't need to do everything today. We have tomorrow.
You're getting better and better every day.
No chocolate at breakfast time.
I love you no matter what.
Calm yourself down. Take a big deep breath in, and now let it all out.
Sleep is good for you. Lap it up.
Drink your water. Your body gets thirsty, even when you're not.
Don't worry. We can make it better.
I've been saying all of those things a lot right now, on repeat even, and while often I tire of the sound of my voice... on reflection, it turns out most of my words to a two year old are perfect lessons and affirmations for me. Life's funny like that sometimes. Don't you think?
Elisa xx
{Image via here. I'm also very much loving the way a cuddle can make everything in little miss two's world "all better".}
What lessons or affirmations have you learnt this week?
So I'm a little cloud obsessed of late. Sky obsessed actually.
It started a month or so ago. I was hanging out the washing and noticed the full moon staring back at me. Begging me to make a wish {or three}.
And since then I've been mesmerised by sun rays on gloomy days, the moon in the night sky, blue bursts of the day peering through cloudy masses, dark cloudy clumps and pretty white and blue scattered skies...
I've been looking up, looking ahead, making wishes and introducing this part of our amazing world to my girls.
And I've been lying barefoot on the grass outside, feeling the earth, noticing the sky and meandering through the space in between.
But yesterday, as I photographed the sky I recalled a dream from years ago. One of those little things that pop into your head when you least expect...
I remember the dream clearly because I had gone away for the weekend and was feeling lost, overwhelmed and searching for answers - and in this dream all those feelings were chasing me. I was running up a hill... my heart pounding, my face flushed and my hands grasping the air in front of me praying someone or something would pull me through.
When I reached the hill top, my view was blocked by clouds, white dust and fog. I looked behind me but I could no longer see where I'd come from. I could feel it though - a prickly fear and anxiety blowing through the air.
In my dream, the clouds were blurring my ability to see ahead but when I closed my eyes I saw a sense of opportunity, and lightness there. I tiptoed gently off the hill stepping onto a cloud. And there I was floating, the sky around me blue and bright, promising opportunity, offering hope, giving me a chance to start again. It was refreshing and I felt like I was floating in a dream of what could be for such a long long time...
And perhaps it was just one of those silly dreams? Or I have a really good imagination? Or could it be a sign that change was on it's way? Maybe all three. Read into it what you like. But either way, when I see fleeting blue peeking out beyond the clouds, I'm forever thinking of a new day, a new opportunity, that we're on the eve of something new. And it leaves me a little mesmerised, a little filled with hope, a little excited for what could be...
Elisa xx
{images by me - prettied up by Instagram. Follow me via @withgraceandeve}
Are you captivated by clouds? And do you like to photograph the sky?
It's only just struck me that I'm waiting.
I have been waiting.
I wait. And I do it really well.
I thought I was the resident live-in-the-now make-the-most-of-today optimist in this home.
Well, to some extent I am all that, but it turns out I'm also loving life in a comfort zone, waiting for another chance, the perfect time, for things to look brighter, for life to give me another sign before I make a change.
I'm not happy about this revelation. I don't want to be Mrs Wait.
Because waiting for me, isn't really waiting at all. It's putting things off, it's casting things aside, it's about keeping things safe and simple.
Time for this mama to step up, step outside, face her fears, and live more fully. I may go slowly, but I will go, one little step one moment at a time.
Elisa xx
{Some things are worth waiting for, but this kind of waiting isn't really waiting. It's fear. I first acknowledged this almost two months ago after being asked, "What are you waiting for?" on hitting the publish button on this blog. I had no answer. I was just waiting, because waiting was comfortable. And waiting was fear of the unknown, and fear of not being good enough. Just plain old fear gift-wrapped as waiting. And that's when I realised this kind of waiting is what keeps dreams forever dreams, and wishes forever wishes.}
{I've recently enrolled little miss two in music and movement classes - she loves it! And I've headed back to pilates, and hopefully soon yoga too. We've stopped waiting for a better time... we're making now our time. It feels good.}
{image via}
Do you prefer to play things safe and stick to your comfort zone? Or do you make changes and try things new?
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Sometimes {when you're least expecting it} you get the message you
most wanted.
And sometimes it's a message you didn't know you needed to hear.
Sometimes this message comes from a friend {sometimes from a stranger}.
And sometimes it comes from the last place you would expect.
Sometimes it seems a coincidence {that this message would be there for you}.
But sometimes a message is destined for you {no matter how much you try to get in the way}.
Sometimes the message is read {sometimes it's heard, sometimes it's seen}.
And sometimes the message is every one of these.
Sometimes the message is felt {deep inside, and the feeling resonates}.
And that's when you know it's not just some message, and it's not meant for someone. {It's meant for you.}
{Sometimes} there's a message waiting for you.
And sometimes that message changes your world.
Elisa xx
{Oh, and the message that arrived at destination me? ...Hard times always pass. Always. Challenging times? They pass too. And the opportunities you may think you're missing out on now? If they're meant for you, they will come back to you... That little message made my day brighter, sweeter, lighter. And it changed my little world in an instant.}
{image via}
Have you ever received a message from a stranger that changed your world?
