Rachel MacDonald

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of a pleasurable and genial feeling. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge  

I was thinking about this post and how much joy it brings me each week, and what I realised was that practicing the art of gratitude is actually practicing the art of seeing.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the Anaïs Nin quote “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are” but I’m a huge fan of those words and believe that we view the world from our own unique vantage point – through our own frame of reference – and that’s what this post does every week. It gives me, and us as a collective, an opportunity to observe life and practice the simple art of thankfulness. When I practice seeing and experiencing my life through the lens of hope and gratitude, I find that life expands in new and unexpected ways.

Practicing the art of abundance means looking at the world as it is right in front of you, not as you think it should be. It’s a leveller. It puts things in perspective. It’s a way of letting go of expectations and letting what is – the things that have already come to fruition – shine. When we see the value and beauty in ordinary things, our whole world comes alive to the splendour that exists in the small gifts life gives. A vibrant flower, the smell of the ocean, a smile from a stranger, having the ability to read, or say yes, or say no, the fact we have a warm bed to sleep in. These are all beautiful blessings to be thankful for.

When you go out in the world today: be present and open your eyes wide to see the divine at work in every circumstance in your life. Untold happiness awaits!

Connecting With My Bloggy Friends

 

We had the best time at the Gold Coast/ Brisbane Bloggers Meet Up on Thursday night!

As expected. Kim, Sian, Claire and Jas were gorgeous and vibrant and full of energy – as were all the fabulous girls (and the one token male) that attended – and it was so inspiring to be in a room filled with people who not only “get” this blogging caper but have interesting “other lives” as well. What a talented bunch!

I think having a creative network away from the computer screen is so important, particularly because blogging can be such a solitary pursuit, and Claire and Jas from Sweet Lime and I are really excited to grow the community and continue to hold events where we can all get together, mingle, share ideas and swap stories. We’ve created a Gold Coast/ Brisbane Bloggers Facebook page but I encourage you to click through and like it regardless of where you’re based, because you never know when you might be in town and able to make an appearance at an event. Better yet, perhaps we’ll take it on the road one day! A travelling bandwagon of beatific bloggers – how fun!

Our attitude is very much ‘the more the merrier’ so please do come out of the woodwork lovelies and if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to hollllllah.

Super Ideas + Collaboration

 

I wish I could spill the beans on the secret project I’m collaborating on but alas, you’ll have to hold tight for a few months. Just know that I’m eternally thankful the people I’m working with came into my life because when it flows, it just flows, and you just know when something is going to rock socks.

Our Wedding Photographer!

 

So you’ve seen the photos and you know she’s insanely crafty behind the lens, but I have to tell you – Ali Mitton is an absolute treasure in person!

I feed off other people’s energy in a massive way and our catch up a few days ago was so full of mutual excitement and energy for the coming months I could have bottled it up and gotten intoxicated knocked myself out on it. We’re both totally on the same page with everything and I could not be more enchanted with the whole situation if I tried.

Women

 

Warning, reflections and ruminations ahead!

The evolution of the important friendships in your life and the characters that make up your story is an interesting one.

I’ve always had lots of female and male friends – a wonderful and eclectic mix – and in my late teens and early 20’s, I always really enjoyed the connection I had with my male friends. We’d talk all day on MSN Messenger (remember that?!) and hang out doing not much at all on the weekends. They’d ask for girl advice and I’d tell them about some guy I thought was cute, and it was all platonic and fun – a brotherly-style love.

I think it’s a fairly common occurrence that when you’re in a serious relationship, your male friendships take on a different role – in my case, my male friends became closer to Ramai – and although Ramai has always totally welcomed and respected my friendships with other guys, a lot of them changed shape as those guys embraced serious relationships of their own.

Has that been the case for anyone else?

On the flip side, I’ve personally always felt really drawn to go-getting, bubbly, can-do women – either on a friendship level or on a level where I knew I could learn something from these unofficial “mentors” in my life – and I’ve noticed that particularly over the past year or so, the mighty tug of feminine energy has lead me towards some profoundly inspiring women.

When I’m looking for new blogs to read, I usually take a moment or two before I start trawling to ask the universe for the words I’m looking for, and I find I’m always guided in the right direction – towards female writers/ coaches/ entrepreneurs doing the things I want to be doing with my life. Their words always appear when I need them most. I’ll post on the women that light a fire in my belly sometime soon, but when I think of the “ask and you shall receive” nature of calling these women into my life, I’m reminded of the saying “When the student is willing, the teacher arrives.”

Us girls are better together. Celebrate that feminine energy in your life, call more of it in and tell the women that keep your world spinning on its axis how necessary and meaningful their friendship is today.

Nailing Wedding Tasks!

 

Our invites are nearly sorted! After an extensive search, I picked up some brown kraft envelopes in the right size yesterday (we needed them quite large as our invites are a custom size) from Sarbe Invitations + Papers, which is a fab little paper goods store.

Our wedding website is also almost finished, we selected our menu options with the caterer yesterday and we have a pretty good idea about the alcohol we’ll be purchasing. It’s all coming together, which is lucky because I thought we had 5 and a half months to go but it’s actually 4 months and 1 week until the Big Day rolls around. EEK!

Anyway, stay tuned because I’ll be showing you the invites and website very soon.

Rice Paper Rolls

 

I’ve decided we need to make these once a week from this day forward. Light. Fresh. Amazing. Devoured in a flash.

Progress With My Goals

 

I thought I’d give you a bit of an update on the goals I set last Monday.

Run 500km: So far I’ve run 20km, which is a bit under my weekly goal because I was busy with the lovely Sian and Kim over the weekend. A long run awaits this week if this crazy rain lets up!

No chocolate: 8 days and counting! I’m really proud of this one – it might not sound like much but to me it’s been a great lesson in being accountable, sticking to my guns, ignoring that voice in my head that says “One bit won’t matter” and, finally, breaking the habit and replacing it with healthier ones. If I hadn’t declared it here, I know I wouldn’t have stuck to this goal – so a big cheers for bold public declarations!

Alcohol once a month til June: As expected, I had a couple of drinks while the girls were here for the bloggers meet up, but apart from that, all good in the hood, my loves.

I’ve heard from a bunch of you via email (and let me just say, you guys are amazing. A.MAZ.ING) and I wanted to remind you today that I’m totally here for a chat about your goals (or anything else) whenever you like. If you’d like to send a goal out into the ether with love and need someone to share it with, or you want to confess that you haven’t been able to stick to the ones you set but you’re going to give it another crack, I’m just an email away and would love to hear from you.

Bite-sized Bliss Bombs

+ A lovely mention on Susannah Conway’s site (one of my absolute faves!) + exercise sessions in the pouring rain (leading to energy +++ all day) + kisses and cuddles and lots of love + brainstorming a heap of blog post ideas and sticking them on a corkboard on my desk so I can see them constantly + fresh vege juices + an awesome annual review with my boss (yay!) + fun new video projects to sink my teeth into at work + Oprah and Cheryl’s ‘You Become What You Believe’ Lifeclass.

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” ~ John Lubbock

+ Where I live, it’s grey and gloomy outside but I firmly believe sunshine starts within, so let’s spread those rays around today. Tell me below what’s making you happy this week!

Images: Soulhunting | Life’s Little Jems | Jak & Jil | Everything Fab | Cherry on a Cake | Little BGCG 

Posted on: 25 January, 2012 | Filed under Making Me Happy | 10 Comments | ADD YOURS
Tags: happiness, making me happy