And 29 OTHER marvellous morsels from the legendary Dr. Seuss! (Because who said your appreciation for Oh, The Places You’ll Go! and Green Eggs And Ham had to cease after your eighth birthday?! Pft. Not this monkey! Oh, and how superb is ”today was good. Today was FUN. Tomorrow is another one!”? New. favourite. motto!)
♥
xoxo
If you’re clicking here for the first time, WELCOME! Every Friday (well, today it’s Monday. Oops!) we celebrate the fact that - ding, ding! - it’s Friday, and our favourite things (making new friends? Mops?! Okay, it’s probably not the latter…) from the week that was. Here’s what I’m currently loving!
x Splendid Spring - Sure, it’s cheesier than a Margherita pizza and probably one of the most overused expressions e-v-e-r, but guess what?! In Australia, spring has sprung, and who wouldn’t be ecstatic at the thought of enjoying all-day barbecues, splish-splashing around at the beach and frolicking about in ridiculous dresses in the months ahead? (Vampires?! Possibly. But not this sunshine lover!)
Can you feel it in the air?! Spring’s h-h-here!
Shells, marbles and vases galore. Welcome to my home!
x Frantically Furnishing The Apartment - With the realisation that a work experience student/intern is set to arrive at Casa De Frock & Roll in the next couple of days (OH! MY! GOODNESS!), I’ve been manically attempting to clean it up. My apartment building is EXTREMELY old, and currently in the process of being renovated (read: it looks delapidated right now), so I’ve been snapping up Eiffel Tower prints and purchasing candles left, right and centre in a last-minute attempt to make it visitor-friendly. (The photograph above is of the living/dining area. What do you think? Cripes inviting people over to your home can be nervewracking!)
x Appreciating Life - My great uncle passed away and I visited a retirement village this week. Both were mindblowingly depressing occurrences, but if there’s anything positive that can be derived from either of them, it’s to treasure life and live it full throttle while you can. We spend nonsensical amounts of time over-analyzing the craziest of things (what, you think I don’t do it too? Oh, but I do!), when really, we should just be leaping out there and taking chances!
x Other Little Things - Atmosphere’s Puppets (hip-hop so good, it should be a crime); so-awful-they’re-hilarious jokes (my favourite kind! An older gentleman, after I became tangled in his dog’s lead the other day: ”Oh, come on now, Pugsley. I’ve told you to pick up pretty girls for me before, but not like this!” Ugh! Ugh, ugh, UGH!); seeeriously contemplating spending New Year’s Eve in Krakow, only to discover that it takes 38 HOURS to fly there (honestly now, 38 hours?! That’s nuts!); this pretty dress (and it’s only 27 clams!); conversations about everything and nothing (again, my favourite kind!); homemade muesli; donning belts in every colour of the rainbow; and traipsing across the sand!
x Contemplate the above. When was the last time you did something for the first time?
♥
xoxo
P.S. UNCOOL CONFESSION ALERT! Can I let you in on a little secret? The reason that this is being delivered on a Monday - and not its usual day of Friday -is because I’ve been overcome with a sincere bout of… BLOGGER STAGE FRIGHT! (See?! I told you it was uncool!) Although I wholeheartedly advocate sharing your work (and I do!), a downside can be that occasionally, you maaay just start picturing the people you know reading your thoughts… and be tempted to freak out. Let’s not!
Is one of my all-time favourite quotes (thanks, Atmosphere!), and it’s a fairly excellent line to remember while writing/painting/singing/talking/engaging in ANYTHING, isn’t it? Spill a little bit of blood/wear your heart on your sleeve in the pursuit of adventure and experiencing life. What’s a good story without a terrifying chapter or two?!
The fabulous Misfits Vintage recently posted a fab-u-lous piece entitled ‘Life’s Too Short To…’, a super inspiring concoction of activities she believes should be avoided in the pursuit of savouring life. (A handful of them? Stuffing mushrooms. Not wearing a chiffon frock for no reason at all. Staying in a job filled with ”a culture of bullying, abuse, bitchiness, harassment, two-facedness and general arseholery.” BRILLIANT!)
It compellled me to buy a turkey. Wait! No it didn’t. It compelled me to create my own wee ‘life’s too short to…” list, and here it is! Life’s too short to…
Ugh, but we do, don’t we? We worry that we’re not as intelligent/hilarious/beautiful/popular/accomplished as other people. We fret that there’s something wrong with us if we feel envious/angry/anxious/depressed. (Excuse me, but where did this ridiculous thought process originate?!)
Allow me to share a line from one of my favourite books: ”we’re all cut from the same cloth. We all experience these feelings and struggle to maintain civiity in a sometimes savage world.” Remember that, and relish how normal and perfectly together you already ARE!
It should be seen!
It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it’s absolutely worth living off cans of baked beans and packets of two-minute noodles for six months to do so. (Which is precisely why my kitchen cupboards are currently filled with them!)
Psst! Can I let you in on a little not-so-secret (and actually, one of the best lessons that I’ve ever learned)? People are EXCELLENT at flinging words about (”I love you!”; ”I’d love to!”), but you’ll only ever really be able to gage how someone feels through their actions. That old adage ”actions speak louder than words”? It’s 110% true.
An example? Don’t waste your time tearing your hair out in a frustrated attempt to understand whether a lady/gentlemen/octopus (it’s possible, right?!) is genuinely interested in you. If they are, they’ll demonstrate it in their behaviour (attempting to make plans with you); not their words (”yeah… we should catch up… sometime!”)!
Cripes, sometimes I feel like we’re all so… SCARED! It’s as though we’ve been raised to fear making ”mistakes”, so we’ve become so cautious in everything that we do to avoid ”stuffing up”. What nonsense!
Life is a gift that we only have for so long before it’s permanently snatched away. Make ”mistakes” (I say ”mistakes” because honestly, what the heck are mistakes, anyway?! They’re lessons!). Twirl somebody around in the street. Whisper something to someone that you’re terrified to say. (If it’s not well received, you can always utter ”sorry” afterwards!) Launch a business. (And if all turns to doom and gloom - which I’m sure it won’t! - start from scratch somewhere else.) Take risks, be bold and have FUN! Life’s an adventure too precious not to be filled with extraordinary tales!
♥
What’s on your ”life’s too short to…” list?
xoxo
(All images thanks to We Heart It.)
If you’re not already acquainted with the whip-smart wonder that is Ashley Ambirge, can I pretty please take a moment to introduce you to her excellent truths? (It’ll be worth it, I promise!) She’s SUPERB!
‘’Truth: Most people will walk this earth for decades, feeling guilty for not pursuing the great adventures inside of them, but will never do anything about it.’’
’”Truth #2: Most people are overwhelmed by fear, and will make some of the worst choices of their lives because of it. Greatness evolves from trust-in yourself, in your ideas, and in your ability to know, deep down, what’s best for YOU. We must not betray that trust, because the moment we do, we betray our own potential.”
‘’Truth #3: Most people will never actually live - they’ll just think they did.’’
PHWOAR! Is your mind blown yet? Mine is! What an alarmingly thought-provoking series of quotes! (Because she’s spot on, isn’t she? How many of us conjure up remarkable ideas but, for whatever reason, rarely follow through with them? Or long to pursue something – a conversation, an emotion, an opportunity – but resist doing so because of FEAR?)
As we saunter towards Monday, consider this: in the almighty journey that is your life, what adventures DO you want to pursue? What’s important to you? What’s stopping you? And finally, take heed of this wee pearler of a line:
”If you want to do meaningful, rich, brilliant things in life - if you demand more from life than an average, humdrum existence - you cannot be most people.”
♥
xoxo
