Hygge

Hygge.

A concept quite foreign and uncommon to cultures outside it’s own, Denmark has one of my favourite, (and quite vague) words that is essentially untranslatable in one word!

As we approach winter and it’s dun drums whether we seem to enjoy it ourselves or not, I thought i’d try to ‘hygge’ a little more this year as the nights get shorter, the days get colder, and the candles get stronger.

The feeling that we get when we’re in the midst of a dreary winter and have the strong desire to stay inside with warm drinks and foods, loved ones, intimacy, and all around coziness. Hygge could also simply be the feeling of sitting by the fire on a winter day This is hygge! Pronounced HYU-gah. 

As Denmark is voted one of the happiest nations on earth regularly, they seem to have this self invented concept down quite well. With mental and social happiness being a large contributing factor to wellness as a culture and society, we can clearly see how this is no concept being spared.

While in western cultures throughout winter, as it being a time of holidays and celebration, we tend to jump forward instead of sit back and relax.

So let’s light a candle and brew a hot cuppa of whatever you fancy..

Happy winter and happy hygge!

Self-Love Sunday

Happy Sunday!

Today I thought I would do a quick post and share a yummy and relaxing face mask recipe that I whipped up today for a relaxing bath. All simple ingredients and it is great and nourishing for your skin, no matter the type.

Cocoa Rose Face Mask

2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

2 Tbsp. Honey

2 Tbsp. Rose Water

Fresh Mint

Optional: Ancient Healing Clay

Mix the first three ingredients, then break up or crush the mint and add to the mixture. Apply a light layer on your skin, leave on for 15-20 minutes and rinse with warm water.

Now light a candle, put on your favorite music, and enjoy. x

The Beauty of the Pause

Aren't all of our lives in their beta phase? We're all growing and expanding everyday for different reasons, different depths, and in different places.
Although my life is not in regular routine, i'm happy.

Being a gypsy soul in my own heart, a self professed nomad in my own body, i'm continuously coming and going. My life is a transition. It would be a lie to you, and to myself, if I said that I always enjoyed it. It's become a process of continuous hellos and goodbyes. Some more difficult than others, some even heartbreaking. But i'm learning to accept it and enjoy the pause.

"We are always getting ready to live, but never living." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Photo, Phoebe Dill)

Without the pause, we almost go on auto pilot with our lives. Thinking for the next thing, the next step, the next place. But how can we truly know what the next step and the next place is if we are always speeding up and not enjoying where we are, and truly appreciating where we are and how we got there. As our lives and our souls are all that we've experienced, those that we've met, and the places we've been. Without pausing and feasting one's eyes on your success, internally, the view only becomes less clear.

You are your journey.

Addictive Daughter

Taking a quick moment to throw it back to my first "Interview", with my friends Persia and Joey at "Addictive Daughter". These ladies are truly walking the walk and changing lifestyles for young girls and women of all ages and walks of life. With a little bit of them in your life, you will completely.. "get addicted to the good stuff."

Thank you girls for this lovely feature. 

Introducing: Olivia Ellis

Olivia Ellis is a lifestyle, spirit and beauty blogger. She’s living the life of a spirit junkie at the tender age of 19, and we think she’s pretty special. As teenagers, we were not quite as enlightened ourselves and so we introduce you to Olivia, a shining example of how one is never too young (or old, for that matter) to begin on the journey of self-love.

How did you get addicted to the good stuff?

I had been brought up with an extended family that was very spiritual, health conscious, and well cultured.  I’ll never forget my aunt giving me my first kids yoga movie when I was about 11, and having so much fun following her habits from spraying her rosewater on my face when she visited, to chewing what I called “food tablets” when I was younger and feeling so rad and worldly. So I had been around the good stuff very early in my life, but I didn’t fully dive into it until I started high school. I went through a really rough patch during that time and I began to read a lot, look up different quotes, and find solace in inspirational sites and hubs on the internet.

I like to think of this year as my “OLIVIA WAKE UP!” stage and it went up hill from there. This same year, I also decided to become a pescatarian and have been meat-free for almost 5 years. Fast forward to last year, I was reading Elle magazine and was introduced to the lovely Gabrielle Bernstein and was shown a whole different side to the “spiritual world”, and was hooked. Gabrielle showed a fashionable, healthy, and fun approach to this that I hadn’t seen before. Fashion, social change, travel and healthy living on a physical level are very  important to me and to this day are my biggest passions. All in all, I am very very blessed to have been introduced to the good stuff at such a young age and have the incredible opportunity to share what I have learned with other young people who for the most part, haven’t been introduced. I know at just 19, I live a very different lifestyle than most late teens and young adults, and have learned to own it and share with all that I can!

A typical day for me is… Waking up, the most important thing to me in the morning is having a simple time of silence. Whether it be 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or even longer depending on what I have going on that day. That silence is so crucial to me, having that moment within yourself and centering before you go check your Facebook, Twitter, and go into the world! Then I’ll do some sort of morning stretch or yoga sequence, then probably have breakfast, usually porridge on a quick day, but if I have time to really “cook”, which I love so much, I will probably try out some fun new healthy recipes or make some sort of yummy egg or tofu scramble and have a cup of tea and my vitamins. 

My days are so up in the air right now, so I’ll usually either be making lattes for a living or getting lost in Pinterest, connecting on social media or watching vlogs on YouTube. Right now I’m working on a new vision board! I prefer to do my workout later in the day when my mind is much more calm, I love to do a jog, or long walk, and at the moment I am really into a program called ‘Ballet Beautiful’ and highly recommend it if anyone is interested. The rest of my day is pretty laid back, I’ll have my daily bath, then I’ll get my Pjs on, do a stretch and a few yoga poses before bed and drifting away!

The person I am most inspired by is… I really can’t choose one person for this! I’m inspired by different people daily, whether it be my mum who always will have time to have a laugh with me at the end of the day, someone who goes the extra measure to help out someone else and lend them a hand, people who go full force and love what they do, or one specific current inspiration of mine is the beautiful, awe inspiring, Malala Yousafzai! I could go on forever.

My favourite place on earth is… There are so many places I want to see, but as of now I would have to go with any quiet lush beach, a coffee shop, or airport. ( I love how the airport is pretty much a link between everywhere in the world, and is full of so much energy and emotion!) Funny how there is such a stark contrast between the two.

If I had any super power, it would be… I think it would be really cool to have the ability to understand any language or culture without having to really learn!

My biggest dream is… To share everything that I have learned with others and to inspire, lead, and help others out in all the ways that I can. Also to have a fulfilled life that is super fun and filled with adventure and love.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is… Be kind and authentic. Nothing is more attractive, motivating, purifying, than being real and kind. That golden rule will always be what I live my life based on and will always be my number one. Also, never count yourself out. You’re as capable of whatever you want as much as the person before or after you.

My healthy addictions are… Chocolate, an incredible meal, fashion, music & films, and superfood smoothies!

My proudest achievement is… Taking the road less traveled after high school and taking a gap year. I’ve already grown so much, and learned more about myself in the last few months than I have in years!

The thing I most struggle with is… Patience and really sticking with something!

If it was my last day on earth I would… Go for a walk as the sun rises with an incredible cup of coffee, spend time with my family, eat the most delicious food (of course including chocolate), and smile. A lot. Maybe skydive and do something absolutely outrageous as well.

If you enjoyed this Q&A with Miss Olivia Ellis, you can visit her blog and keep up-to-date with her on Twitter & Instagram too!

http://www.addictivedaughter.com/oliviaellis/ 

When we leave somewhere, are we doing it for the sole purpose of leaving and getting away from our reality, life, and location? Or, are we leaving to escape that and throw ourselves head first into a completely foreign reality?

While leaving for Rome, I had no clue the reason why I was leaving, although for the first time in my life it had been a decision that I had never questioned once, in a year of planning, and something deep within my soul told me that it was necessary and a necessary step for myself and for my life.

Over the following months of arriving, I’d been forced to make decisions that I would have not previously known how to make before, let alone which choice to choose. I’d learned that I have a voice that only I can speak, and an adventure that is truly my own.

We don’t leave to escape, we leave to discover.

“There were times especially when I was traveling for ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, when, I swear to god, I would feel this weight of my female ancestors, all those Swedish farmwives from beyond the grave, who were like, “Go! Go to Naples! Eat more pizza! Go to India! Ride an elephant! Do it! Swim in the Indian Ocean. Read those books. Learn a language!'” -Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’

Growth, and self discovery righteously begin with setting yourself outside the comfort zone of what you’re used to and being forced into surroundings that are foreign to yourself, your ways, and being challenged by your own personal views along with what excites you, scares you, and what you wish and dream for whether it be on a daily basis or a long term desire.

Surrendering yourself to your own personal, wild, wicked journey, rather it be external by flight, or internal by the decisions and thought processes you’re finding yourself making, is one of the truest things that you can do for yourself and your happiness.

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”

-Anthony Bourdain

Our lives are beautiful, abstract, collages that ultimately will only ever make sense to us. We can tell stories, we can write, sing, create, but the words that only we have heard, the people that we have met, the foods that we have savored, these are what will mold us into our true self and what makes us happy. That will lead us to discovering new things about ourselves, human nature, and the world around us.

So set flight, eat, meet, and enjoy. For you and for your future self.

I’ve played and toyed around with the idea of a self love letter for quite some time now, but being at the point in my life that i’m currently at, I couldn’t imagine a better, self-love-needing time.

Dear Olivia,

We haven’t been together for too long, twenty years exact. We haven’t had the same road as Einstein, and nor have we had the same road as Gloria Steinem or Stephen Hawking. But we also haven’t had the bare, quiet life, sweetened with bloom as a baby may have.

I’ve learned a lot from you so far, and as much as I often want to run and hide from you, I truly love you.

I love you whether you are feeling liberated, and free-spirited while running through a new city, or old, with friends talking about life, gossiping about boys, and getting excited about what, who and where the future holds. Yet, I still love you while you are feeling confused and befuddled at life (usually at night like now), and wondering what is right, and what is wrong. Even though, you will learn after every experience whether it be an up or down in your life, that, it is all, always right.

I forgive you for making mistakes. Together, we have learned that these have only lead us closer to each other and towards a place that we become more well versed, happy, honestly and truly content with each other.

Although, they might not always have an easy path, I love you for your wild, spontaneous ideas that excite you and make you feel alive and eager.

You may always want to rush, ( I know you better than you know yourself.) But it’s okay to slow down. When you slow down, you hear me better, and with deeper clarity that will always guide you in the right direction. I promise, that I will never let you down.

Above all, I love you. Every single aspect of you. Your mind, because it shows you what is right, and what isn’t in the direction of yours and mankind’s greatness, your body, because it is the figure that leads you through life, to and through the most dazzling adventures, and even the missteps you take , and most importantly your soul. Your soul, because it is you. It is me.

I loved you yesterday, I love you today, and I will love you tomorrow.

2015.

As we’re nearing the end to another year. A year that to me, personally, was exceptionally beautiful and life-changing, events, people, and places focus a little more clearly and perspective seems much more attainable.

I feel as if 2015 was the first year my shell didn’t simply crack, but shattered into a million beautiful pieces.

Looking into retrospect, this time last year, I was at a place that was the most unknown I had experienced. Preparing blindly, yet quietly, for a journey that would change my life completely and throw my heart out of my chest and into a world that I had known comfortably, into a world that wasn’t only real, but a world where I finally felt home and tangible.

The lessons that I had experienced and grown from, and are still growing from are universal.

1. The world is kinder than we make it out to be.

Traveling is simply but the way we live our lives on a day to day basis but on a much different scale. We see sings we may struggle to see, we meet people from all walks of life with beautiful and heart wrenching stories, and through all of this, we discover more about ourselves and learn the true, genuine power of kindness and trust within ourselves and our world. Trust and love. Not just yourself, but the decisions you make, the places you go, and the people you meet. You can work your way backwards normally from experiences that don’t work out, but you can’t go backwards from experiences and people that you commit to fully with your heart.

2. Relationships are sacred

Living in a time of things, relationships can often be shooed aside and kind of be our shoulder. But i’ve learned that relationships of all types, rather it be a best friend, a mother, a lover, or the man you regularly see at your local coffee shop that seems to have a story you want to peel open, are the core of our hearts. Everything that we desire leads back to the desire for human connection. This is why we’re here. We yearn to know someone is experiencing the same thing. We crave words when we’re lost, and we crave touch when we’re feeling sad or melancholic. This all leads to human connection. Without this, we’re simply but stars shining on our own. Together, we’re a constellation that shines for the universe to love and understand. Cultivate these relationships, listen, and never judge. You are no better than any other human or life, and they are no better than you.

3. Say yes.

This is a big one for me in the past year I have certainly worked on and seen the power first hand, as traveling can really accentuate and heighten the power of this. Sometimes we can be tired, scared, unsure of what’s to come in our decisions. But the future we are creating lies in these decisions and the fearlessness to make them. As my favourite poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said;

  “Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”

By making these decisions, we are opening ourselves up to a beautiful adventure. Whether it be pure joy, or heartbreak and continuous lessons.

Say yes, the power and beauty of it is much greater than not.

4. Open your heart. (One eye open, one eye closed.)

I thought about this one for quite some time. Life can be excruciatingly difficult, or an eye opening beautiful. But with an open heart and mind, these experiences shift from experience to a lesson with understanding. If someone normally had treated me poorly, I would react. I would get angry and my temper would unleash and I would pretty much set on fire. Now, (although I am still not perfect ;)) I try to understand. That person may be hurting. I look at them as a scared child with bruises that have led to their adulthood that we all suffer no matter who we are or where and what we come from.

One eye open, one eye closed. A lot of people may disagree with this, but for me, it is a way that I live my life that has helped drastically. I am very sensitive by nature and am easily affected by emotion or tragedy plaguing our world.

With one eye open, we see. We observe. We understand. Being blind to what is happening in our world and our personal lives on a day to basis is foolish. We are here, and we are capable of change, and the power we hold is strong beyond belief. Difficult at times, we need to understand and observe what is unfolding around us. We need to nourish our selves, our bodies, and understand what must be done to do this. To understand, we need to see. And to see, we have the power to act.

With one eye closed, we still hold the magic we held as children. A beautiful blindness that protected us and kept us comforted. The magic that made us believe in tomorrow, the neighbor, and ourselves.

2015 was a year that brought change, heartbreak, many firsts, many lonely nights, and many magical nights.Some of the most important people had come into my life that are truly a gift and have led me through some very dark days and very beautiful, hopeful days. The value of experience was stronger than the value of money, and the experience was transformational.

May you all and all you love have a healthy, happy, and magical 2016. I am very excited, and hope that you are as well.

And aud lang syne.