A carefree spirit . . . .

FUN.... it's not just for kids . . . .

Remember that feeling of being invincible, optimistic, wide-eyed, and carefree? Remember plotting your course around "the fun," when almost ever day was an adventure? Choose to feel it again! It never left you. It's still there. Don't let another year or ten or more go by before you recognize today's magic. Because even more so than back then, you are poised to have more fun than you have ever had before. 

Oh yeah!

Life becomes easier when you're having fun. 
The trick to blending work and play,
lies not in what you do,
but how you view what you do.
See work as play
and see play as important!

Having fun is why you're here! It's not frivolous; it's not just for kids; it's important! And the art of having fun lies in appreciating wherever you are. Its potential hides at work; it hides in routines; it even lurks in bumper-to-bumper traffic! It is a wonderful life and it offers endless opportunities for fun to those who seek even when they wouldn't think of seeking!

Happy Friday!

Here's hoping you find plenty of fun this weekend!

Life is not measured

by the games that are won,

but that you lived in the moment

and learned how to have fun.

Via

Choose Them Wisely

by

Mike Dooley

...are we lucky or what?

Happy Monday, my friends.

Make it a great week!

xo, Connie

Another wonderful experience. . . .

It feels so good to be home! I've been traveling for the past 12 days and it was heaven to crawl into my own bed last night. Vacations are great, but there's nothing like the comfort of your own space!

Today I would like to share with you a wonderful experience that I had while I was gone. After an incredible 8 days in New York City, I traveled to a friends home in Virginia, just outside Washington D.C.  To my surprise, he asked me to follow him into his garage, opened the door, handed me the key to one of his motorcycles and told me to get on. We weren't just going for a ride, he was going to TEACH ME HOW TO RIDE!! I jumped up and down like a little girl! I have a Vespa 250 scooter, so I've ridden, but c'mon......it's a scooter! There are no gears.... just the accelerator and the brake. This was the real thing, and this was something that I've wanted to do for a long time. When I was 18, I read the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and I have never forgotten the descriptions in that book of what it is like to ride, and more importantly, what it teaches you about life. It was time I experienced a small portion of that! So there I was on the back roads of Virginia,  experiencing the wonderful feelings that Robert M. Pirsig described in that book. He said, "You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it, you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness." He was right. I was in the scene. I thoroughly enjoyed my first ride, and even though I most likely won't be running out to buy a motorcycle, I was grateful to have experienced that sense of presence, not to mention another level of self-confidence that I couldn't have gotten without trying it myself. By the way, I now have a real sense of appreciation for motorcyclists. Be aware! Watch for them, and safe travels.

"Unless you're fond of hollering, you don't make great conversations on a running cycle. Instead, you spend your time being aware of things and meditating on them. On sights and sounds, on the mood of the weather and things remembered, on the machine and the countryside you're in, thinking about things at great leisure and length without being hurried and without feeling you're losing time."

-Robert M. Pirsig

"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow."

-Douglas Pagels

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Enjoy, my friends!

xo, Connie

Got laundry? . . . .

The quote above, to me, is the only way to live your life. I'm sorry to tell you this, but laundry and daily chores are very much a part of life. What attitude are you sporting when it comes to daily chores? If you're living your life dreading your routine, grumbling about your daily chores, I promise you, you are making it harder on yourself than it needs to be. We really do have a choice! Your attitude will determine the way you perceive our world, and what life dishes out to you. And I'm sorry, but life dishes out laundry! The secret to enjoying a typical day is how you choose to approach it. If you are dreading your day-to-day duties, try a different approach! We know we can't change the fact that we have daily responsibilities, but we can certainly change the way we think about them. We can either begin by making ourselves miserable, or we can put on our favorite tunes, and dance our way through. The amount of work is the same.

"The world is a playground,

and life is pushing my swing."

-Natalie Kocsis


Photo by Katy Weaver

 

No worries . . . .

Enjoy every moment . . . .

However you choose to spend your holiday weekend, whether you are  traveling or staying home, may you stay safe, find happiness & complete relaxation. If you are spending time with the people who mean the most to you, may you enjoy laughter, good conversation, and appreciate those memories for a long time to come. Whether you are cooking or making reservations, may you enjoy every bite. If you are making this a work weekend, may you be productive and feel the satisfaction of completion when it's all said & done. 

Change it up a bit! 

Shake up your routine! 

Replenish your soul.

"The best cure for an off day, is a day off."

-Frank Tyger

P.S. I am kicking off the summer 
by spending the weekend  

at my cottage in Michigan, 

and the weather forecast looks beautiful!

  

I'll be planting my flowers, 

and hanging out in my garden,

spending some time on Oval beach, 

and heading to The Red Dock to enjoy 

my first Rum Punch of the summer. 

 I plan on enjoying every meal outside, 

taking a ride on my new Vespa, 

and just hanging out with my husband.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

xo


Photo credits:
#1 Sunday in Bed
#2 Nick Vorderman
#3 myself
#4 Felicia Fairchild
#5 Google Images

Are you having fun yet? . . . .

The most fun a baby soul can have

comes from watching.

The most fun a young soul can have

comes from doing.

And the most fun an old soul can have

doesn't come from anything.

Not that old souls aren't still first to the

playground, dance floor or hoedown,

but that they could have fun

anywhere, anytime,

like right here and now.

Text via Notes from the Universe

Photo's #1 and #2 via Nicole Hill Gerulot

Photo #3 via Pinterest

You might want to take this call . . . .

Happy Monday!

Make it a great day!

Photo via Everyday Health

Happy Monday! . . . .

It's the only January 17, 2011

you'll ever get.

Make it a good one!

xo

Graphic by Foto Foto via etsy

Photo via Google Images

Photo by Nicole Hill Gerulat

If we sat down to think about the precious little things in life--those that make our lives more vibrant, connected and inspired--we would find genuine, heartfelt moments that shape our lives and make us who we are. Little things like a job well done, someone being there for you, an honest compliment, taking time to play, and being a good person. The little things really are the cornerstone of a full life.

We can't take the little things for granted. They have built companies, friendships and just about everything of value. No act of generosity, kindness or service is ever wasted, no matter how small. Everything matters. Everything we do helps or hurts, adds up or takes away. We need to count on each other for the little things that make life so big. In the end, it is not the days or the years that we remember, but the moments.

From the book the little things

by Kobi Yamada


Photo by James Christie Photography

Top graphic from the book Live Good

by Kobi Yamada

Photo via  Anthropologie

Sensory Deprivation . . . .

I want to go dancing and wear a dress that swirls and floats around me, and laugh. I want to feel the shimmer of silk as it glides over my arms and down my body, the joy of fingering its whispery softness. I want to sleep in my own bed and luxuriate in the cool crispness of clean sheets, and rest my head on my own pillow. And go to sleep when I want to, with all the lights out, and wake up when I'm ready. I want to stretch out on my couch under my blue-plaid afghan and listen as my favorite music seeps from the speakers and into my being, watering the parched landscape of my soul. I want to sit on my porch and sip hot coffee from my stoneware mug, and read the newspaper, and hear the dog bark at blowing leaves and trespassing squirrels. I want to answer the phone and call my friends and family and talk until we catch up on all the words we've saved for each other, and laugh. I want to hear the train hoot through Loveland, the gravel crunch in the driveway, and car doors slam as friends come to visit. And the tinkle and clink of silverware on china, the hiss and gurgle of the coffee maker. I want to feel my bare feet on the cool whiteness of my kitchen floor, and the soft blueness of my bedroom carpet. I want to see the colors, all of them, every color ever spun into existence. And white, true white, pristine and unblemished. And acres of green trees, and miles of yellow-ribbon highways, and yards of Christmas lights. And the moon. I want to smell bacon sizzling, a steak broiling, Thanksgiving dinner and my father's tomato vines. And fresh laundry. And the ocean. But more than all of this, I want to stand in the doorway of my son's room and watch him sleep. And hear him get up in the morning and see him come home at night. And touch his face and comb my fingers through his hair, and ride in his truck and eat his grilled cheese sandwiches. And watch him grow and laugh and play and eat and drive and live. Mostly, mostly, live. And put my arms around him and hold him until he laughs and says, "Mom, that's enough!" And then be free to do it again.                    

-Deborah E. Hill

The above article was written by a woman in prison. Can you imagine having all the beauty of what life has to offer taken away? 

Don't take life, 
and all it has to offer
 for granted.

From the book Highlighted in Yellow

by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

and

Rochelle Pennington


Photo via Google Images