Month: November 2017

Customized Happiness

.Reading time 4 minutes.

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Prague, Czech Republic. 2017.

I’m sitting in my temporary apartment in Prague, and I’m meditating on all the things that make me happy. Did I just say that I’m in my apartment, in Prague? Being able to say things like that is amazing! I then channel having thoughts of how people customize experiences, to bring them happiness, emphasizing on the fact that yours and mine may look nothing alike. I find there to be so much beauty in that. No judgements, and no comparisons, just happy in our own ways.

I’ve cried many tears, and if I’ve learned anything from those purifying experiences, it’s that I look and feel so much better when I’m smiling. In addition to that, those silent cries have led me to realizations of the exact things and experiences that would make me want to do the opposite of crying…

Right now, my happiness is not rushing through life working a 9-5 to survive, but developing a plan to start a business that aligns with my passions. It’s recognizing opportunities, and taking risks. It’s understanding and appreciating divine timing. It’s traveling the world, becoming well-rounded, and knowing that home is where my heart is. It’s seeking clarity. It’s being spontaneous, and seeking adventure. It’s finding peace in the moments I choose to spend in solitude. It’s shopping for groceries and spending time in the kitchen, listening to music for my soul while preparing a healthy meal. It’s planning ahead and giving myself enough time to walk most places, for my double dose of exercise and mediation. It’s actually seeing and doing. It’s expressing myself by being creative. It’s keeping things short and sweet. It’s having my greatly desired morning cup of coffee! It’s spending time to think of ways I can help other people. It’s being present, having little to zero doubts and regrets. It’s about less being so much more. It’s taking ownership of where I am in my life, and acknowledging the work I’ve done to get to this place. It’s about customizing my happiness, and knowing that yours and mine do not look alike. What makes you smile, and what makes me smile are so different, and even that makes me happy! It’s about seeing people in pure states of joy, for different reasons. It’s about finding balance.

This smile is bright for many reasons, and when I’m not smiling, it’s because I’m giving my life a wash, shedding all of what has become unnecessary.  I’m smiling because, it’s important to me to remain true to myself, and keeping things simple. I’m directing my energy toward living a life of fulfilling dreams. My travels have plenty to do with each of these blog posts, in my own way. I may not elaborate on my “touristic” experiences within each city, but know that traveling, alone, contributes to the happiness I possess. That, for me, is enough. My intentions are to capture the changes I’m going through, and potentially provoke you to ponder your experiences in life, how they made you feel, how they made you change, and what you find yourself intentionally doing to fulfill your own sense of happiness.

I’m writing this blogpost from my temporary apartment, in Prague. I am where I am, doing what I’m supposed to be doing. The same goes for you.

Next month, I’ll be living in Lisbon, Portugal, and I look forward to that experience adding to the customization of my happiness.

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Beauty Mark

.Reading time 3 minutes.

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Kerid Crater, Iceland. 2017

We all remember the day of the incident that scarred us, and changed our lives forever. Some of us remember the exact time, the scent, the words, the sounds. We remember every tingle and every tear. In the moment, the unexplainable was happening, the unimaginable, the unattainable, the inevitable. Not only was it happening, not only was it real, but it was present with a force, assuring we felt every ounce of pain, and it wasn’t leaving quietly. It was preparing to leave a mark. It was forcing a dent, a scar, a blemish, a distinguished feature, a crater, and ultimately, a distinct memory. Selfishly, this experience becomes the center of attention, and maybe not necessarily the preferred topic of discussion, but most certainly the elephant in the room. This new scar is uncomfortable, because it’s impossible to hide. It’s too large, too foreign, too complicated to explain. Yet, in nature, when we come across a crater of some sort, we find these “scars” to be “beauty marks.”

Nature’s scars become National Parks and World Wonders. We write articles and books about them, we rave on social media, we spend lots of money to see them in person, we travel the distance and make sacrifices, we take lots of pictures, tell our family and friends, we promote and advocate, and we become their biggest fans. At what point, after observing and obsessing, do we self-reflect? At what point after exercising all of those activities do we stop, sit, and have compassion for ourselves?

Similar to Earth, we too have experienced some shakes, quakes, rumbles, punctures, and blemishes; pain that has created scars, but aren’t they beauty marks as well? Why aren’t we turning our craters into wonders of our own worlds? Why are we not viewing them as art, taking photos, writing articles and books, telling our family and friends? The pain becomes beautiful, because it’s a part of us. It becomes something to talk about, study, discuss, observe, document, appreciate, share, and maybe even something we turn into profit, but let’s not keep our craters to ourselves. Similar to Earth’s natural wonders, we too, have scars, that become beauty marks.

After the storm – the sun shined, the rainbow appreared, the clouds were like candy, the flowers blossomed, and everyone thought you were so beautiful, but you thought it was only because of the sun.