Tag: life

art · life curation

Art is a Healer (I Knew It Already)

MstldelanoLeave a comment

There’s nothing like confirmation. There’s a sweet satisfaction that comes from having someone state what you’ve known all along: it’s good to know that your thinking is accurate.

Recently, I came across an article that describes how some physicians in Canada are prescribing trips to the art museum to their patients. There are therapeutic benefits associated with spending time observing and appreciating art.

Untitled design - Edited (2)

Well, as you all know, I wrote about how I healed during my divorce by regularly visiting art museums. My time in museums helped tremendously with my self care and was one of the greatest keys in lifting my mood during the darkest period of my life. There was something so comforting about walking in those pristine and taking in all of the beauty that had been created years prior.

The article also talks about doctors prescribing time in nature to patients, as well. Yup, that’s another thing I used while I was on my self-care journey. All of these things contributed to getting me back into a state of wellness.

Well, that’s it for today. Just came in for a quick gloating session – I kid, I kid! I hope you all are enjoying your Saturday! Take care, and talk to you all tomorrow.

life curation

Finish 2018 on a Strong Note

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Hi friends! Can you believe we’re already in the month of NOVEMBER? I know, time flies when you’re having fun!

Welcome November - Edited

With two months left in the year, you probably think that you won’t be able to do anything impactful before the years end. Nothing could be farther from the truth! 60 days is more than enough time to do something that will really help you to finish 2018 on a strong note. If nothing else, you can get a good running start for 2019.

So take out those goals you had for 2018 – you know, the ones that got lost in the sauce sometime in February – and give them a good once-over. See which one would really mean the most to you, and get started on it NOW! If you need an idea for how to get started on your goal, I have a post about one of my sneaky tricks for successful resolutions.

Start by doing something today that will take you five minutes or less (preferably less). Take the action immediately, and you’ll already feel like you’re headed in the right direction. As for me, I’m spending 15 minutes today on my “big goals” – five minute on each of my 3 goals – to get some momentum going. And then I’ll be jumping into my writing, because it’s NaNoWriMo! Check out tomorrow’s post for more about the NaNoWriMo festivities for this year.

Talk to you all tomorrow!

life curation

Making Space Challenge – Quick Update

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Yes, I’m still sticking to my #MakingSpaceChallenge, though being away for a week broke up the “flow” of things. However, being on vacation helped me to make mental space that I desperately needed so no complaints here!

On my first full day back at home, I did bag up some items to take to a local thrift store (I’ll be dropping off of those items later today) and go through the enormous pile of mail, quickly throwing away anything that I didn’t need immediately or that would end up costing me money (looking at you, clothing catalogs!) I also got a chance to listen to some podcasts that had been in my queue for a while, which opened up (literal) space on my phone.

stones.jpg

This little traveler opted out of buying or picking shells as souvenirs LOL

Sometimes, the greatest thing you can do to #makespace is simply don’t further clutter what emptied space you have. Avoid adding more clutter on top of what currently exists and you’ll be in a good position to eventually make some progress. Since I wasn’t at home, I wasn’t unnecessarily shopping, so I didn’t decrease my space. Yes, I purchased souvenirs, but I’m delivering all of those travel tokens to their final homes within the week, so the items won’t be in my space for much longer!

I’m spending today doing a lot of cleaning and food prep so that I have more time and space for NaNoWriMo! More about that in a couple of days, but for now, have a great October 31st, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

international · travel

I’m Back!!!

Mstldelano1 Comment

cruise

Yes, I’m back from my cruise and I have SO many photos and stories to tell! I knew I wouldn’t be able to give “real time” updates while I was on the ship (I go on the cruise to disconnect, not to maintain my regular routine!) so I made sure that I scheduled some posts for you while I was away.

I always love my time on the water, and I’m really excited to share this experience with you all. Today, however, I’m winding down and catching up on my emails and all the things that happened while I was away. I hope you all have been doing well!

Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll be back tomorrow. Adios!

 

life curation

Belated Birthday Post: What I Got for My Birthday

MstldelanoLeave a comment

You know that you *might* have had an awesome birthday if you take nearly three months to share what gifts you got! Well, for the record, my birthday was pretty awesome, and my super-thoughtful bestie bought me a few gifts that I’m loving.

Along with my birthday card, I got a bunch of things to remind me to “play” each day. I find that many of my days lack “play” because I have such a hectic schedule. But when I do have downtime, PLAY is a priority. Injecting JOY into every day – in the form of play or pleasure – is crucial to keeping me sane.

So I’ve been enjoying my coloring books and my bubbles. They’re great for helping me unwind during the stressful times. This little bit of whimsy really does wonders for my mood. I love her for coming up with such a creative gift!

I also bought myself a few things, but I’ve already shared that in my latest book purchase post. Remember to always get yourself treats: you deserve it!

style

Fall Fashion Post Run-Down

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Hi guys! Now that the cool weather seems to be here to stay, I want to share some fun fall fashion posts that I’ve seen over the past few weeks. This will be a brief post, since I’m currently working on a few other things and have to keep it brief so that I have time to work on the pressing stuff. In any case, enjoy, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

fall1

The best part about fall: leaves changing color

If you’re curious about your fall color palette, check out this post over on Best Life Facts. These colors are sure to work perfectly as you transition from summer’s warmth to autumn’s coolness.

fall2

Geek Refined is serving up five different fall looks for your enjoyment. The cool thing about this post is that these are all great transition looks: not quite warm enough for the coldest days, but perfect for the weather right now.

If you’re looking for individual fall pieces to add to your wardrobe, check out Haley’s Beauty Room. This list has a bunch of ideas for filling the gaps with your ensembles. I especially love the trench coat recommendation.

Have fun checking out the links!

 

words of wisdom

Words of Wisdom: Gloria Naylor

MstldelanoLeave a comment

“A star dies in heaven every time you snatch away someone’s dream” – Gloria Naylor

The music in his laughter had a way of rounding off the missing notes in her soul.”

I first became acquainted with Gloria Naylor’s work when I was a child. My mother, aunt and grandmother all loved the mini-series, The Women of Brewster Place. They skipped past any parts that were too mature for me, but I distinctly remember certain parts of the heart wrenching story of a group of residents living in low-income housing. I was far too young to understand what the movie was really about, but I remember being in awe of the beautiful women on the screen.

quote-spoiled-that-s-all-it-s-about-can-t-live-without-this-can-t-live-without-that-you-can-live-gloria-naylor-134187

Years later, I learned more about Naylor herself, and I was inspired by her story. She had a sheltered childhood and finished college later in life (at the age of 31), and fell in love with literature while in college. Inspired by some of my heroines, like Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, Naylor decided to write about the experiences of Black women, and from this came her novel, The Women of Brewster Place.

341980282ca5fdc9b1074e247047bcd9

Naylor’s body of work is not very expansive but it’s key in capturing the essence of the period: her stories reflected urban experiences for Black women in the 1980s and 1990s. The works would probably come across a bit “dated” at this point, but that doesn’t minimize their importance. I intend to add some of her books to my personal collection, as I’m inspired by the bits of her writing that I’ve read so far.

fb0b828b95ff4302374fcf3f71b15e65

That’s it for today. I hope you all have a great day, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

(Photos courtesy of IZQuotes, Washington Post, and Pinterest)

 

life curation

Dealing with Emotional Lows

Mstldelano1 Comment

Happy Friday! I hope you all are gearing up for a fantastic weekend full of friends, family or whatever brings you tremendous joy!

I’ve been feeling very content but also reflective. Recently, I spent some time sorting through some of my emotions. I’ve had a lot of “highs” this year: travel, new friends, good times at work, etc.,. But I think that most people underestimate how bad a “low” can feel when you’ve been flying high for a period of time. It’s easy to assume that lots of “highs” = more immune to the “lows”.

emotion

But it isn’t true sometimes. Sometimes, a “low” can hit you out of nowhere and really bring your vibe down. I’ve had a few of them over the past month or two. The source of these “lows” were one person in particular. This isn’t blaming the person, just acknowledging that the “lows” were connected to interactions that I had with this individual. The “lows” didn’t feel good but I knew that these things were happening for a reason and I had to figure out – quickly – how I would handle these emotions.

The best thing that I could do was ride it out. I decided to explore whatever the “low” is was trying to teach me, because there was definitely a lesson in there somewhere. In this case, I got a new level of understanding about my triggers, boundaries and expectations. I got a chance to express my dissatisfaction and unhappiness in a healthy, productive way. I had the chance to allow someone to self-express then ask for another chance to do better. And this “low” gave me a chance to practice forgiveness and starting over in a manner that felt comfortable for me.

It’s still too early to see if this individual will do better. But I’m open to whatever this next few weeks brings: whether it’s improved interactions or a clear sign that distancing will need to be employed. I wish I had a “all’s well that ends well” way to wrap this up, but, just like everything in life, the story continues to unfold in front of me.

And so it is.

I hope that you all know that emotional lows don’t have to sidetrack your joy completely. Continue to take care of yourselves, and, before you make any rash decisions, get into a quiet space and listen – really listen – to your inner guidance. It always knows the right way.

Enjoy your Friday, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

life curation

10 Easy Ways to Make Space in Your Life

MstldelanoLeave a comment

I’m still having fun with the #MakingSpaceChallenge and finding easy ways to #makespace every day. I haven’t seen any drastic updates/changes in my life, but that’s the beauty of the challenge: causing little drips that I hope will turn into oceans of change.

tranquil

I felt like I might have an issue with staying on task with the challenge, so I came up with a short list of easy ways that I can make space in my life. Some of these may take more than the prescribed 5 minutes, but getting started is important and just as impactful.

Some of the easy ways that you can make space in your life are:

  1. Clean out emails
  2. Make a call that you’ve been putting off
  3. Finally tackle your “junk drawer”
  4. Throw away any expired items (food, beauty products, etc.,)
  5. Cancel a subscription that you don’t need
  6. Throw away any clothing that isn’t in good shape
  7. Back up all of your files to an external drive or cloud drive
  8. Turn in your gently used books and clothing for cash
  9. Indulge in an act of self care
  10. Go to sleep a little earlier than normal

All of these activities either create space in your physical surroundings, your mental space, or serve as a way to restore your energy. I’m sure there are many other small ways that space can be created, but these were the ways that I could think of off of the top of my head.

Do you have any other ideas on how to easily and quickly create space? If so, make sure to leave it in the comments below, as well as take a photo of how you’re making space and tag it on Instagram #MakingSpaceChallenge . Talk to you all tomorrow!

culture

Happy Discoverer’s Day!

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Hi friends! Today, most of the United States is observing Columbus Day, and there are a lot of businesses and institutions that have closed for the day. However, I’m interested in the states and groups of people that have chosen to claim this day as one to honor indigenous people: the individuals who were negatively impacted by “explorers” who landed in North America hundreds of years ago.

In my research, I found out about Discoverer’s Day, which honors the Polynesian explorers that first landed on the Hawaiian islands. The state of Hawaii does not formally recognize Discoverer’s Day but I think it is a creative way to honor Polynesian culture as well as to distance the date from Columbus’s legacy.

hawaii

There are some groups that would like to further refine the name of the day, so that it more accurately reflects the original inhabitants of the islands. One group is pushing for the title “Indigenous People’s Day” to honor the early Hawaiian inhabitants. It’ll be interesting to see what changes will happen when it comes to recognizing the indigenous people of the Hawaiian islands, as well as indigenous populations worldwide.

In the meantime, I am enjoying this Discoverer’s Day and I hope you all do the same. Take care!