Category: spirituality

Simple Living, Nature, Tiny Homes & Art

Published 09/26/2015

Just a little Saturday morning inspiration…

I came across this YouTube vide below. It’s a little documentary about a travelling hobo artist named Dan Price. He tours his underground home, talks about his art and philosophy. He is all about the simple living. Really simple living, living off the land mostly, and connecting with nature, and making art. He never wanted to grow up and be an adult, and loved the magic you had back then as a child. So he applies that artistic magic to his lifestyle. He’s lived in tents and teepees, but now lives in a hobbit style home in the hills. Watch the video below.

He’s written a couple books too, one on Radical Simplicity. Now edited to My Simple Life, and a book about his Tiny House.

And one on How To Make A Journal of Your Life. This one inspired me to connect with the outer world, and document my life again. I used to write everyday as a teenager to document my high school life. It’s’ wonderful to pick one up and read through it again. Albeit slightly embarrassing too haha.

He’s written a Moonlight Chronicles Series that documents his life traveling the world and the many adventures and observations, and he’s definitely inspiration to the style of books I want to write. I’m really glad I came across this.

Check him out, if you enjoy whimsical things about the meaning of life. It’s a really beautiful breath of fresh air.

Adios and enjoy the weekend!

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Why We Need To Slow The F*** Down

Published 08/08/2015

Pardon the language in my title. But seriously. I’ve just finished a book (I read a lot of books sometimes) written by my partner’s aunt, called Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s a book about the importance of creative thinking and being in tune to your inner creative intuition. It looks at all of the ways that we repress ourselves and how society blocks our creativity. But there were a couple points in this book that really stood out that I must share.

Living in a Hurry -Up Culture

We have become overstimulated and overwhelmed by all of the choices available to us and there are way too many options that stand in the way of deep examination.

“Political “experts” sell their pre-packaged thinking, financial analysts, theirs. Into whose interpretation of political events or economic eventualities should we buy? What commodity will reflect well on us? Which new fashions will enhance us? What cereal displayed in the rows and rows of cereals in the ultra-super-megastore should we choose? Which of the latest technological applications is best? How long will it take for it to become outdated? How do you keep up with the ever-changing future? How much more time will we spend trying to make choices? Will there fever be enough time to explore our individual creative desires?” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s incredible! Because we are being bombarded with information, we rarely have a moment to sit and contemplate everything thrown at us, and we don’t take any time to listen to what our own souls are crying for us to do.

People who are removed from their own instincts about things become more and more confused by the multiple perspectives they are constantly being offered and become incapable of defining their own world view. And thus, we suffer from a loss of authenticity. This is something I can really relate to sadly.

Our poor kids today are growing up in a busy culture as well, and not having time to themselves to create and be imaginative.

“In the United States today, it is the age of the microwave child, many of whom have never kneaded dough, never watched a meal being cooked from scratch. The ingredients are not of importance; it’s the finished product that counts…a goal is achieved without the creative process, without the stimulation and sacrifice of work. Instead, there exists a need for instant gratification.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Our Lack of Solitude

“There might be a place inside your head where ideas dwell, but nowhere to bring these to fruition is a cruncher.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Creative people need a space for solitude in order to reach those depths within. But many people are afraid to be alone with themselves. But being alone allows us to really think, it’s required if we want to get to know ourselves, and not get distracted by the constant information out there.

But anyway, enough about that. I just wanted to share those nuggets of information should you be inclined to check out the book!

This week…

I didn’t end up biking to work at least 3 days a week (oops). I blamed it on not making enough time to ride to work. However, I have ran 5km twice this week to make up for it and I’m noticing a huge difference. I’ve done well with intuitive eating, BUT have not always made 100% healthy choices. There was chocolate birthday cake, and a wine and cheese girls night in there somewhere. This week I must do better.

I’ve been setting a few minutes everyday practicing feeling blissful and not suffering. I tend to whine and complain, so I’m trying to get over that.

I didn’t make any unnecessary purchases. Yay to that!

Last weekend I donated a cat tree to Katie’s Place. And almost took a cat home.

I tried to squeeze in important family/loved ones time but I could have done better here. I was having an emotional and hormonal week contemplating my life and career, so I think my attention was more towards myself. I saw my family on the weekend and had brunch, and did a road trip with my partner to Harrison Hot Springs though.

I asked my boss to work part time. The company is still my baby, but we aren’t as busy currently so it was a good time to see if I could focus on all my projects on the go. I’m torn between growing the role full-time, vs time on my projects. There’s a great opportunity there that I need to sort out.

And that is all folks! Nothing very exciting. I’d love to hear how your week went! Is anyone else trying to live intentionally?

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A Fresh Start to Living with Intention!

Published 08/01/2015

Hey everyone! Long time no chat. I’ve been a bit MIA these days because, well, basically life just sort of took over, but I am back and I want to give this thing the love and attention it needs. I’ve also been fighting a fear between just being myself vs trying to be objective and informational, if that makes sense. But a good friend helped me realize that, what is the worst that could happen if people I knew in real life knew me as personally as I shared myself on this blog? So I’m going to be more real, as I definitely enjoy reading those blogs more than pure informational ones (i.e. 10 Ways to Get Over a Cold!) Be warned, this is a long post, but it’s an intro to a new start, so if you have the patience to read it, then cool!

A lot of things have changed and I must admit that I got distracted from the Minimalism thing because I had moved into a new house with my SO and had a promotion a few months back so I was very busy and overwhelmed. The result was a house full of things (combining my things with his things) and being too mentally exhausted to focus on anything else with all the work stuff going on.

After having gone through some intense personal development workshops and seeing the person I want to be wasn’t exactly who I was currently, I am committing to live a more intentional life starting today, August 1st, 2015! I plan on checking in weekly to see how I am doing, and I am happy for you to point out of I miss any updates (eek!). One thing I need to work on is committing to tasks that are somewhat ‘repetitive’. I seem to have a difficult time with this. But my coach said something brilliant.

Building Character means doing the things that uphold your values and who you want to be, despite you not feeling like it or wanting to do it.

Amen to that. But first.

I kicked off my “Fresh Start” by reading this book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. It’s absolutely incredible! Talk about a unique, quirky perspective on minimalism. Basically, Marie talks about the Japanese KonMari method of decluttering, where you hold every item in your hand, and only keep it if it “sparks joy”. She anthropomorphises objects, teaching you to show them love and appreciation, and thank them for their purpose. For example, if there are gifts or cards you don’t want to keep but feel guilty about getting rid of, know that the purpose of a gift/card is to convey someone’s emotions about you. Once that purpose has been served, you have no other obligation to keep the item.

I finished this book in a few hours and was well on my way to decluttering what I had accumulated since my last purge. I got rid of 4 giant garbage bags of clothes/linens, a bunch of books, dishes, and random knickknacks that had no meaning. I also went through useless documents that I thought I had to keep for record keeping sake. Granted, I don’t have a ton of things because I did do a huge purge last year, and I am not the biggest shopper. But I did well! I am so lucky to have a partner who was super supportive of it all.

“Go ahead! I like my office but the rest of the house is yours!”

Yay!

Anyway, pick up this book. It’s very cute, but extremely practical and claims to make you a tidy person for once and for all.

Let’s take a moment to talk about Minimalism for a second. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately on minimalism,

Here are a couple I absolutely love:

but most of the Minimalists I am running into, whether on YouTube or on the Blogosphere, focus on extreme minimalism. Like, literally living with only, probably, one item of everything you need. Their decor is very neutral, simple, and clean. Which is really cool, and I wish I could do it, but I can’t ignore who I really am.

You know what brings me joy? Anything antique/vintage/retro and bohemian looking. Think eccentric grandma! Ornate designs carved into wood, colourful eccentric patterns against a neutral background, and textures. I do like to keep the bedroom fairly neutral and relaxing though as a space to clear my mind. Also, my wardrobe is pretty minimalist and neutral. My home just has to be eye candy. Here are some photos below.

So while my tastes don’t match what the norm seems to be out there in the Minimalism world, I adore every piece I own and they all spark joy. This is what it means to me. It means many things to different people. For instance, the world traveler minimalist who lives from their backpack, or a van converted into a home. I think it’s important not to confuse minimalism as one way of being because the purpose is ultimately the same – to get rid of the things we don’t need, to make room for the things we want.

And now, I must move onto to my Intentional Living! I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous to start this. But the blog, Blonde on a Budget (another one you need to check out) really inspired me. Not only is she living more intentionally, but she has been on a Year Long Shopping Ban and onto her second! Amazing work Cait!

Below is a list of things that I intend to focus on so that I can live more intentionally, simply, and meaningfully. I’ve already been doing these things, but the goal is to STICK to them and remember the higher purpose.

Health and Fitness:

Daily Pilates: Currently I’m doing Blogilates daily. (Guys it’s so much fun!)
Bike to work at least 3x/week.
Intuitive eating which is creating a good relationship with food, mind and body. Learning not to eat for emotional reasons, just eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full.
Vegan/Vegetarian diet. I love animals way too much to eat them. Also not eating processed foods, too much sugar/alcohol/caffeine/crap. Currently I’m open to eating seafood, but most of my diet is primarily vegetarian. Let’s see if I can get to vegan. Any advice?
Cook more! Less eating out. Save money. I’ve been doing pretty well here.

Spiritual/Emotional:

Everytime I have the impulse to eat something bad because of emotional reasons (boredom/sadness etc), sit in the feeling, recognize it’s a misguided opportunity to connect with ourselves. Being ok with just feeling the emotions.
Be more present.
Astrology!: I must admit, whether it’s true or not, I find it so fascinating because the things I read seem to be extremely accurate. Been reading a bit of this book everyday. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need.
Be more aware and ethical in my lifestyle choices, whether it’s cleaning products, food, clothing etc.
Practice my daily Bliss feeling and no suffering so I can learn to push through uncomfortable feelings when I don’t want to do something.
The minimalist lifestyle, living simply, enjoying the little things and open up space for what is important.

Finance:

Currently live on half of my paycheque, and save the other half. Only buy things I need such as food and toiletries. Spending a minimal amount on ‘going out’ and other miscellaneous things.

Giving Back:

This Blog: Writing consistently, and personally, to hopefully inspire others. And I will be honest when I fail on any of these things in my weekly updates.
Animals: Donating money or supplies to Katie’s Place, a local animal shelter in my hometown, Maple Ridge.

Relationships: I think I can sum all of these into really honouring the time I spend with those that I care about. Being truly present with them, instead of being distracted by the next thing I need to do.

Friends: Make an effort to see how people are doing, being more supportive of people’s dreams and aspirations.
Family: Being present with my family, recognizing they won’t be around forever, spending more time with them.
Partner: Also being more present, giving my full attention, appreciating how much I love this man and how amazing he is.

Career/Personal:

Grow my Virtual Assistant business here at Less of the Excess, the ultimate goal for me is to become location independent and self sufficient. Through living a minimalist lifestyle and not buying into consumerism, we need much less money to survive on!
Less time surfing the internet, more time on goals…this one is difficult. Less distractions!

Phew! That was a long one…

I’d love to hear some of things you guys are all doing in order to live more intentionally.

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Social Media or No Media? Which Would You Choose?

Published 06/17/2015

“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” ~ Jim Morrison

Let’s talk about social media, or the media in general and what it does to our emotional and mental wellbeing.

I have a friend whose family is from Africa and her grandfather lived until he was 127 years old. They say it was because the family moved him out of the city, and into the countryside, cut him off from all media, so that he could live blissfully and stress free with his family and the beautiful nature.

I have another friend from Vietnam. They did the same thing. When their elders got old, they chose to protect their family members from the media and moved them to a beautiful location to live media free so they could live longer and healthier lives.

It is well known that the Media (social media, news media, etc.) can cause us stress. Especially the television news. The stories that are told to us are generally negative and frightening. I personally try to limit my exposure to negative news topics because I am a very sensitive person, and I can get very depressed about the state of the world. And while isolating oneself from the media can make us potentially live healthier stress free lives, what are the costs?

Social Media is a topic on it’s own which can cause stress because of:

Trying to keep up with the Joneses with what is popular or what others have
Keeping up with ourselves and the need to portray our ideal image
Being addicted to technology
Losing our privacy
Prying people
Identity fraud
Relationship/Friendship drama

If you had to choose to either be media and stress free (ignorance is bliss), or informed but stressed out and miserable? Which would you prefer? Can you have both? Do you care?

I think the happy medium is to be able to choose what content we are exposed to. Essentialism, coined by Greg McKeown, would say we should choose to expose ourselves to information that brings us value, and disregard the rest. A dear friend of mine says it’s always important to be learning (which requires learning about what is going on in the world), but we should have a choice on what kind of information we get and go to trusted, unbiased (ideally) sources. We should also explore all angles of a story or issue, and not blindly accept what is being told. For example, read the comments sections and discover other intelligent interpretations.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Minimalism and Spiritual Awakening

Published 09/01/2014

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle. ~ Albert Einstein

I follow a lot of Minimalism blogs (see them here), and I’ve noticed there seems to be two common ways people approach or discover Minimalism if they weren’t always a minimalist in the first place.

They’ve had a profound shift in perspective, usually due to a significant event or series of events. Things like break-ups, job loss, deaths in the family, illness, travel, having children, etc. After these events, they have realizations of what is important in life. And then they discover Minimalism.
They are searching for something ‘more’ out there and are tired of the status quo. They are trying to figure out what the purpose and meaning of their life is and question everything they’ve been told. They aren’t sure what that is yet and discover Minimalism as a way to get there.

No matter how we are introduced to Minimalism, I think it is tied to Spiritual Awakening, and our need for the shift for something more. Now, I realize some people find this topic a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but it has some value. This post was oddly enough inspired by a dream about mice last night. I never dream about mice. Today I found a dying mouse in my building. I’ve never seen a mouse in my building.

It is also inspired by a dream I had about two childhood best friends, and the next morning I received a message from a childhood best friend who wanted to reconnect. I hadn’t seen or talked to her or her sister in 8 years. We met up this weekend and they introduced me to Spiritual Awakening as they are on similar paths. I’ve never heard about it before, but after some research, it was a huge aha moment so I had to share it.

Apparently synchronicity and clairvoyance are part of spiritual awakening…

What is Spiritual Awakening?

The process of becoming a whole person, reaching higher peaks of awareness.
The individual sense of self identification falls away. We no longer care about the superficial world and we are left with awareness, sensing, thinking, feeling or being.
It is a process that can take a lifetime. It doesn’t happen over night.
It is similar to Maslow’s Self Actualization or Carl Jung’s Individuation.

Below are 22 signs of Spiritual Awakening:
Original sources are here and here. This post also has some really great advice.

1. Asking Questions about the world around you and the stuff that is taking place in your life.

2. Changes in sleeping patterns to suit your needs and requirements as a growing individual.

3. Stimulated sensations like random bursts of emotion that you didn’t usually feel before, such as crying during movies, feeling compassion and empathy towards those around you, changes in body temperatures, or sudden random urges to go and do something like running, swimming, or climbing a mountain.

4. Having great ideas and putting them into action, seeing the depth of the truth, willingness to look beyond the tip of the iceberg, compassion on a bigger scale, and thirst for knowledge.

5. Feeling pressure in different parts of the brain, such as the frontal lobes which is the male logical and thinking part, or the back of the brain which is more connected to the female, intuitive and space of connectedness.

6. The recognition of issues that have been denied, repressed, and avoided in the past and present may surface to be processed, in many cases, this may happen in relationship to someone or something, which offers opportunity for growth for everyone involved in the vibration.

7. Changes in the body like looking younger and stronger, which also goes hand-in-hand with changes in the eating habits and life style. Everything revolves around health.

8. Having personal and peak experiences where one feels at one and in peace with her/his surroundings. Having meaningful dreams and in-depth visions are not uncommon.

9. Craving more and more to break free from traditions, outdated institutional thinking, blind conformity, and useless beliefs that do not serve the greatest good of humankind… taking that craving, and turning it into action.

10. Seeing and comprehending the world in a way with deeper meanings. More and more awareness of synchronicities between the physical world and the feelings, thoughts, and energetic representation of the physical world.

11. An increase in occurrences – (there aren’t any coincidences) An increase in psychic, mediumistic, clairvoyant, and intuitive skills.

12. Acute sensitivity to negative energy around specific people or environments.

13. A desire to “find yourself”, change your social group, behavior, job etc. Sudden extreme sensitivity to people or crowds. You may find that your once sociable nature suddenly disappears and you simply cannot bear to be with certain friends, family members, colleagues, or coworkers.

14. Sudden awareness of recurring patterns or relationships– A noticeable inability to tolerate someone with whom you have had a previously close relationship.

15. Sudden inexplicable panic or anxiety attacks occurring at any time with no valid reason. A feeling that something has changed within you.

16. Acute sensitivity to shopping malls or crowded environments such as restaurants, clubs, festivals, and so on.

17. Extreme sensitivity to mobile and digital phones, laptops, computers, wireless routers, and all microwave technology, as well as certain types of lighting.

18. Zoning out for long periods of time with an overpowering need to sit and do nothing. (This often occurs as a result of our consciousness spending increasing amounts of time in the fourth and fifth dimensions.)

19. Changes in your energy levels. The need to rest and sleep for much longer than usual or sudden insomnia in normally sound sleepers.

20. A stronger connection to nature

21. Quicker manifestations

22. A change in what you read, watch on TV, and your hobbies

Let me know if you’ve experienced any of these signs and share your thoughts in the comments below, or email lessoftheexcess at gmail dot com.

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