what d'ya fancy doing today?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” 
― Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems


This question has lodged it's vibration in my mind, making me halt and think about the unnecessary clutter that litters my mind.
It opens so many doors for daydreaming.

I literally get quite high with imagining that I can board a plane to exotic paradises, feel the wind pull at my hair, adrenaline surging through my body as I sail the high seas, hang out, dream, bask in the sun, be with my children wholeheartedly 100% without my mind wanderin' over to more mundane places. To jump in the car, plane, spaceship and see far-flung friends and family, to paint, write, sing and dance. To eat well, laugh a lot, to be free and live on a 'what d'ya fancy doing today basis'.

To be the first in the queue.

And I look at all this and know how possible it all is.

It's nothing I haven't done before.

I'm learning to calm my destructive mind that I 'should' be working, looking after others, writing letters home, making oodles of money.
When the world keeps spinning and I can't jump off, when dreams are slipping and I need to hold them up, I think of this verse and know it's alright.

To live in the higher vibration of joyfulness and love enables all this to come to me and more. It sets dreams in motion, excitement and lightness of being in place and calms the ego into submission.

To just be and see what unfolds, to follow the path of freedom in which ever form that takes.
Today it's writing, yesterday; playing with children in muddy waters and stormy seas. It may be work; a lunch break filled with endless possibilities pulsating joy through the blood. Flicking through You tube posts, hearing a joke, watching a puppy play, a child smile, an elder give a nugget of wisdom from the past.

"I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings.” 
― Mary Oliver

To live as if I had no worries, financial freedom and joy at my fingertips creates pockets of bliss, freeing my mind from restrictions, shoulds and must do's.

I will write this verse out and put it up in unlikely places of my home, prompting instantaneous daydreaming and in the twinkling of an eye my visions will be my reality.

life's a pleasure

Travelling along like the speed of light still clothed in summer, we've been knocked flat on our backs as the leisurely days of autumn lay crumpled at our feet. The aroma of wood smoke, cut grass and over ripe grapes withering on the vine under the kitchen window, rescue our senses and alert our minds to slow down, let it all go and start packing up for hibernation. 

Cold mornings making me reach for lighting the fire, sharing the family bed for an extra half an hour, snuggling deep down and loving, laughing and laying in. Our days are becoming shorter, the sun shining intensely on us, the Bays placid waters breathing life slowly in and exhaling out. 

And aint that what life's all about?

Life's simple pleasures. Practising mindfulness, living simply, seasonally, sensationally. 

Equals happy.

And that's what we're all striving for right? To be happy. To be loved. To be well. To live out our life. 

To be.

So, amid all the noise, confusion, have to's and must to's, we need to remind each other that to slow down, to give each other simple pleasures, to find what it is that makes us tick tock 'round that clock, is what it's all about. Without looking around us, without looking within us and without taking the time seeing someone else's greatest pleasures, then we can not fully be happy, radiant and joy-full.

My wandering meditation on my bike yesterday, cycling amongst ancient ratas, being whalloped by the early mornings rays, was listing my simple pleasures.

A lot of them were prompted by my steady ascent up through native bush, body working hard, mind needing to be stifled with sweet murmerings. I list them below for you. 

I wonder how many of my pleasures ignite the fire within you ...

1/ listening to sweet bird song, chattering in the trees

2/ feeling the warmth of the sun caress your skin

3/ watching the sky paint it's beauty in the sunrise

4/ contemplating clouds drifting overhead, morphing into different shapes

5/ immersing yourself in child's play

6/ being slammed by a breath-taking view

7/ enjoying a cool breeze tease your hair

8/ listening to the waves lap onto the shore

9/ playing hide 'n' seek

10/ listening to your favourite piece of uplifting music

11/ dancing

12/ kissing

13/ laughing 'til you nearly wet your pants and you have tears rolling down your cheeks

14/ making someone smile

15/ spending time with your bestest buddies

16/ cuddling

18/ eating the bestest raw chocolate in the world

19/ reading a handwritten letter

20/ snuggling up in your favourite chair with a really good book

21/ going to the cinema with your friends

22/ picking up the phone and hearing your loved ones from overseas

23/ helping someone in need

24/ sleeping in fresh sheets that have blown dry on the line

25/ sitting amongst trees

26/ being quiet near running water

27/ getting soaked to the skin, then coming home, getting dry and snuggling into your favourite sloppy clothes

28/ watching a funny film

30/ finding the bargain of the century

31/ smelling puppy breath

32/ singing out loud

33/ looking up at the stars at night

34/ hugging your children

35/ hanging out around the fire

36/ popping bubble wrap

37/ guzzling sun warmed fruit straight from the tree

38/ the smell of the sea

39/ having a good catch up with an old friend

40/ going to sleep while the rain falls heavily outside

41/ planning an adventure

42/ realising dreams

43/ reading an old journal, letters, cards

44/ knowing that your actions have made someones lives happier

45/ when you're given some unexpected windfall

46/ doing nothing and just being

47/ when someone you adore thinks you're the bees knees

48/ knowing who you are

49/ planting a tree

50/ eating from your garden, orchard, windowsill

Now, instead of chasing  my tail and focusing on what I haven't accomplished, whenever I get my knickers in a twist about something, I shall take a few moments out of my day and find a simple pleasure.

Unwrap it, smell it, take it in.

 Then, I will be loving my life more, living my days happily and feeling sensationally well! 

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Enchanted Beings

Beating a drum to the lit bottoms of glow worms had the children captivated in delight last night. 

Ferns, lichen and moss hid the nocturnal earthlings from view and magnified the buried creeks gurglings. The rising full moon sauntered through the protective arms of our trees, winking shadows of delight, the children whimsically dancing, playing and creating shadow theatre on the freshly cut lawn. 
Parallel worlds sitting closer. 
Enchanted beings on either side of the fence.

Gifting ourselves with melodies of higher vibration, taking time to honour our friends with their outstretched lungs, our food providers and forest dwellers, the harmony between the children of earth and their long standing tree family was celebrated in earnest. 

Old Man Walnut's face came to view, his thick coat of striated bark rougher to touch, fluid in the silver light of the night. The ancient ratas knarled fingers clawing at the light of the moon. Willow quenching her never ending thirst, standing strong with the quiet pungas and tree ferns. The pohutukawa proudly dominating her presence over the orchard of adolescent apples.

Last month grandmama moon had us setting intentions. It was my intention to get myself set straight! 
With time whizzing past and flurries of days tornading vortexes up and around me, yesterday I found myself celebrating another full moon, barely seeing where the days had flown too. 
Thank the grandmother in that case for this month we will be revitalised. 
Grabbing the energy and gobbling it up will set our intentions into action.

Sharing a feast of succulent, live plant foods with celebrated friends last night with a common thread of seeing, being, growing and creating, we blessed the waters of our land, the trees that drink the nectar of life from her, our children and ourselves. A connection with our natural lives, a reminder to keep close to the natural world, especially in times of giddiness and flitting around. 

Keeping connected with who we are, where we come from and what we're made of will only enhance our ability to restore our vitality. Joining the dots of light and moments of inspiration, playfulness and deep gratitude will serve our higher selves and our everyday being.

new beginnings

Phase three of my mega dream is set in stone …well, wood actually.

Our dream home settled in native bush, resting at the bottom of a crystal mountain and casting a sleepy eye over a sparkling horizon of diamond-encrusted ocean, has greeted us warmly. 

The old, distressed homestead, newly coated in white, that spangles with windows wrapped round it like a tier of wedding cake, has welcomed us with historic open arms. 

A magnificent garden overspilling with lashings of heritage fruits that I didn't know the names of when I focused on my needs. 
Sapote, grapefruit, feijoa, lemonades, walnuts, grapes, black boy peaches, nashi, pear and apple fill our kitchen, bellies and mouths. 

Fruit leathers are processed daily.

My three fruit fly cram their tastebuds full of juicy ripeness of the richness of harvest. 

Wallowing in the generosity of neighbours, a kitchen garden was gifted to us in the first week of settling in. 

Now, only a few weeks on, we whip round our bounty in the mornings. Dewdrops still percolating the aura of the leaves as we indulge in our homegrown green morning nectar.

Plenty-full purslane, dandelion, water cress and chickweed.

Deciding what you want has gotta be the first port of call to realising your dreams. 

striking a balance

       It's all about balance. And here we are. Teetering on the edge of one season, about to fall into another. The rain that fell wholeheartedly for two days, replenishing the land and all that dwell on her, brought more than relief from drought. It brought Autumn to chock-fill our days with a richness that only harvest can bring. Wallowing in the affluence of trees shedding their inexhaustible load of fruit and nuts has brought much excitement to our household. And a respite to the preparer of meals, as my fruit fly snuffle around the garden gorging on a bellyful of delights.




Looking at ways of slowing down the long-lopped stride of summer, the children head outside to nature's pantry and some of my day becomes freed of the obligations of preparing health-full snacks round the ever tick-tocking clock. Before time's consumed with some other household need, I headed to the beach today and jumped on a paddle board, accommodating an equilibrium within my life. Time to strike a balance, to restore equality in my life. An hour on the water, paddling to a nature reserve, marvelling at the earthlings that inhabit our world alongside us, created an inner peace that carried me through my superhuman timetable of a day. And with a workload that only swells like a juicy ripe peach, the importance of putting some time aside for me becomes paramount.

Wobbling about on my board as I was distracted by talk, reminded me to focus on the horizon, stand straight and tall, strong and silent. The importance of moving my body and allowing my mind to be still of the constant monkey chatter was a welcome respite to the norm.
Listening to my body's needs in the present moment as the ripple effects of others lives swallows up my own, is a valid reminder to come back to myself, speak my truth and to keep body and soul together.
Anchoring balance, demonstrates to those around our pools of life, that we're each responsible for our own well being, and when life fills to the brim with the debris of our outer world, more ballast will be given when we appear to rock the boat and give ourselves the gift of time.