How to FEEL rich

Psychology says that it is easier for us to feel thankful when we surround ourselves with symbols of abundance.

* A bowl filled with fresh fruit (Freng Shui says oranges for the win!)

* A vase of fresh flowers (You don’t even have to buy the fancy stuff. I sometimes use whatever I can pick along my morning walks and pop them into an ordinary drinking glass!)

* A display of your finest wine/preserves/choccies

* Pictures of holidays, family celebrations and paintings of sunflowers/corn fields…things in full bloom. Use magazine cut-outs if you don’t have your own pics.

* A spritz of something that smells luxurious in the air or on your neck 

Photo by Any Lane

Every time you SEE/TOUCH/FEEL/SMELL those things you will tune into a HIGHER FREQUENCY.

The idea is to re-programme your sub-conscious. Very soon you will start believing:

There is always enough!

The world is rich and full of prosperity 

There is more than enough!

There is bounty all around me 

I am worthy of it all!

Join me this week, please. This is especially important when you don’t feel like you have enough. I know this feeling well. 

I see the light,  

xoxo Lee 

Forgive Yourself

Forgive yourself in the shower

In the car 

In all the spaces where you cry alone, smile alone and think of all the dreams that slipped away 

Forgive yourself for all you wish you had shared when you had plenty 

All the sunsets you didn’t lift your head to notice

All those days when you tried but fell flat on your face

And buried your tears under tons of fake smiles, makeup, noise and wine 

Forgive yourself for the jealous moments 

The ugly sessions of gossip and untruths 

Forgive yourself for not finishing what you started and not doing what you promised

Forgive yourself for staying 

And going 

And waiting 

And watching days turn into months turn into years of what ifs 

Forgive yourself for not taking a chance 

And for taking too many chances 

On the same old same old people and things that could-have/should-have/would-have but didn’t 

Forgive yourself for losing hope 

For looking outside for answers

For all the opportunities to grow and stretch and break free that offered you a ride you didn’t take

Forgive yourself for the seasons that went by in a flash 

For forgetting where you come from

For comparing yourself to people whose paths appear lighter than your own

Forgive yourself 

Forgive yourself 

Forgive yourself 

Forgive yourself for not forgiving yourself sooner

…and breathe! 

xoxo Lee

~Written on a cold, Joburg morning while sitting on my kitchen floor where I saw the perfect sunny spot. I crawled up to it, grabbed a piece of paper, and let the download come in. Just like the sun!

Photo by Sigrid Abalos

The Little Things this week

My children made a card for my best friend’s mother this week. They picked flowers from the garden which we slipped inside a handmade card and sealed with a crooked bit of tape. I bundled their contribution into my pretty gift bag and sent it off, together with the rest of her gift.

She sent us a thank you video some hours later. Do you know what she treasured most? The random, mismatched flowers and words up and down a page stained by dirty fingers.

Pretty little blooms for a special lady

I was moved to tears.

It had been a hard week for us. The kids are back to doing online school, South Africa is back in Level 4 lockdown and many friends are down with Covid. Touch wood, we have been safe, happy and healthy but still, it hasn’t been easy hearing about other people losing loved ones and battling to save their businesses etc.

So, being able to make someone smile made me smile and once again I can say with absolute conviction that I am GRATEFUL for

• the gift of life
• the gift of good health
• my happy, healthy, creative, funny, kind, intuitive little people
• friends that feel like family
• flowers, birdies, sunshine, bugs and the whole ecosystem that gives and gives
• the sense that the more I appreciate THE LITTLE THINGS, the more they turn up.

How about you?

Can you vibe with that?

Lee

Gratitude Lists as part of your Self-Care

You know what guys? I’m sad about what’s happening in Israel and Palestine. I’m sad about the millions of people dying in India as the Corona virus continues to wreak havoc. I’m sad about the many divorces, suicides, mental health issues, drug addictions around me. I’m sad about the way people are struggling to eat, feed their families and survive. Their pain is everyone’s pain.

And yet, in the last couple of weeks,

• My dad got his vaccine, my niece got married, the kids set a mouse-trap and my daughter wore hot pink shorts for a new dance class
• I picked chillies from the garden and turned it into a home made peri-peri sauce which I bottled for some friends
• My neighbour put a bottle of silver shampoo at the gate for me to try (without saying a word)
• My favourite client launched her new website
• I cut my hair, made rum and raisin ice-cream and ate it in bed with my hubs when the lights went out
• I ran a little further, finished editing a 70,000 word manuscript for a client and I received the sweetest hand-written thank you note and some Turkish delight from a little boy.

Looking out for these moments and documenting them is part of my self-care.

It’s not so much about creating a false sense of happiness but rather choosing to note the little things.

These are the moments that help to lift my mood, change my focus and improve my overall feelings of health and wellbeing. The more I do it, the more I see little things to take note of.

So, I wanna know. What’s on YOUR list of things to be grateful for this week? If all you did was brush your teeth, that’s okay too. We are in the middle of a global pandemic. I say snap those pearlies and be grateful you still have them.

Grateful Always,

Lee

New Tradition Loading…

Geez guys, what a year! Just to think, we have LIVED through a pandemic. Actually, we are still living through one, but still…WE DID IT!

Sadly, many people were not as lucky. So many lives have been lost and the cruelty that has swept over our lives, is something that we can’t escape. In my tradition, we say Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them & Let Perpetual Light Shine on Them. So tonight, instead of our usual glitz and glam celebration, my family and I will first light some candles to remember all those who have passed. Yip, this mama is starting a new tradition, which I hope will continue for many years into the future. Please let me know if I can make special mention of one of your loved ones tonight. 

Then, we will pop the champagne and celebrate: 

• Cheers to the gift of life!
• Cheers to the people and things who bring Light into our lives! 
• Cheers to the gifts of vitality & good health! 
• Cheers to the little things! Think sunrises and sunsets, cuddles with the kids and animals, starry skies, yummy home cooked meals, birthdays, technology, books, wine, gardens in bloom and all the times when Mother Nature puts on an extravaganza! (Remember the Great Conjunction? Exactly!) 

I wish you and your families all the very best for 2021. May the coffee be good, may our collective journey be towards the light, may we have enough of everything we need and may the people, things and opportunities that we need most come onto our paths with ease to illuminate everything around us.

See you in 2021. 

Lee

P.S. For those of you who have been commenting about my HAIR, this is not that kind of blog:-) but thank you!

The Little Things

How’s your week been, friends? I have so much to be grateful for.

My children tried something new and their enthusiasm has been so inspiring! (Particularly my daughter, who has a love affair with her duvet).

They’re been working out twice a week with a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) trainer. He has them doing squats, lunges, karate kicks and sprints. Just when I think they’ve had enough, he throws in one more thing and you know what?….they do it! Turns out the challenge gets them going.

So, I took a leaf from his book. I got them involved in the kitchen for a bit more than our usual Sunday bake off. Oh, please don’t ask about that. It’s this wonderful thing we’ve been doing every Sunday for about 4 years now and we really have baked some wonderful things over the years. This week though, we made some Cannoli (or as my littlies call them “Ma’s Caramel Horns”, because my mom used to make them):

The were insane! Imagine the faces of my little humans who got to boil some Condensed Milk and witness the magic of it turning into “caramel”.

I also got to burn some Palo Santo for the first time (OMG!!!!). I wrote lots, spent some QT with the hubs, hit some golf balls. I signed books for Secretaries Day coming up, I’ve slept well, eaten well and we even got to cuddle some bunnies.

I call these moments The Little Things.

Being grounded in GRATITUDE helps me not only to see them, but to really pay attention to them. With a full, full appreciation for the magic.

How may of those moments did YOU have this week?

Did you pay attention to them? Trust me, the more you do, the more they will show up. It’s the law of the universe.

Beautiful Palo Santo, burning away

xoxo

Lee