Challenging yourself is learning about yourself

If you've been following me for a while, you know I like to take on challenges... small and big.
Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes I write about it, sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail.
Sometimes I follow up, sometimes I just let go.

But EVERY TIME I learn something about myself...
It can be pretty or not.
It can be amazing or scary.
But I am learning...

And to me, learning is growing.
And growing is our only real purpose in life. 
Everything else is just filling space.

All those challenges have made me do the following positive, permanent changes in my life:

I am now ovo-vegetarian (plant-based that eat eggs as the only animal by-product.).
I live debt free.
I have a regular meditation and yoga practice.
I walk every day.
I have lost those extra pounds that have been bothering me.
I wrote and published a book.
I have moved to another province.
I have discover a love for camping and being in the wild that I never thought I had.

and there will be more... as long as I live, I will keep on changing.

As I saw somewhere lately (sorry but I can't remember who it was - if you do, please let me know), life on a monitor is an up and down line...  whereas death is a still line.  Life is movement, change.  Death is still.

As a result of seeing that,  I have recently challenged myself to a few things...

1) not wasting food
2) a year shopping ban on clothes
3) working with capsule wardrobes for the upcoming year
4) no spend November

I hope, or should I say I know, these will bring me a notch further.

I have identified the common threads to all of my actions being my health and the environment.

Clearly, those won't have no direct impact on my health... but on the environment? Of course!

We waste way too much food.  In general. I have noticed that I was throwing out even more food than I wanted to admit...  just by the number of times I take out the garbage bags compare to before.  It is pushing me to eat in more, shop more intelligently, plan my meals, and helps me save money on groceries - because by throwing out less food, I end up having to buy less food and hence save money.

My shopping ban on clothes is all about refining  and decreasing the amount of clothes in my wardrobe. Over the years, my style changed quite a lot as I discovered who I was, I have changed my activities and lifestyle therefore my wardrobe had to change.  Also, by being at peace with who I am, I am now confident to dress how I love and not how I should, which incidently had an impact on my wardrobe.  I noticed recently that my wardrobe is pretty much all over the place!  Many items I like, and most fit well with each other but some are of poor quality, some no longer fit and some, well, they just reflect another version of me.  It is time to completely assume myself.  In order to do this, I figured that if I do not buy clothes for a year, and use the monthly capsule wardrobe system for that same year, it will allow me to see what I wear, what I do not wear, what I wear because I feel an obligation towards it, what I would rather do without... I will eliminate pieces as we go along and from there, a year from now, I will have the perfect basic wardrobe that I can build on.  I know I want to aim towards better quality and more sustainable and ethical clothing brands, so this will give me time to look into that. I should also have decreased significantly the amount of clothes I own : if I am willing to be completely honest with myself!

I can already tell you this:  1) my wardrobe reflects the weather I love more than the weather I have to live in! This will need to be address to incorporate more late fall and winter clothes. I love velvet and corduroy... that would do! I should own more of these! 2) It seems to me like no matter what, I am more of a jeans or shorts person than about dresses! I like to wear those with a boho top or a t-shirt and a cardigan with my ankle boots or Birkenstock! However, in winter I find skirts with a warm legging amazing!

Last but not least, my no spend November is all about stretching every dollar I have.  My husband and I have one huge short term project and another, quite huge too, mid term project.  In both cases, they will require that we live with less stuff ( especially less clothes for me) and that we save money on our actual income.  We can do this, but we need to figure out where we can cut and where is stretching it too far that we become unhappy!

So, basically, this is why I do those challenges. I like to do it.  I like to push myself outside of my comfort zone.  I don't believe I have ever achieve anything special by staying within it.  No one did. Ever.

If you want to make your life special, meaningful, exiting...  challenge yourself.
Try. You will fall.  But you will get up again.  Learn. Start over.
You will see what works for you.  And what doesn't.

Because we are all unique.
There are no reason why you should do like everyone else.
Unless you are afraid...
Don't be.
You are amazing. 
Be yourself. 
Completely.
Your messy, scared, compassionate, eager to learn beautiful self...
The world needs it.

OK, now it's your turn.  What will you challenge yourself to do?

Chloe 💜&✌

No $pend November

As you might already know, on Sept 18th I started a 3 months clothes shopping ban... which I changed into a year long one on Oct 11th. Therefore, no clothes shopping for me until Oct 10th 2019. You can scroll and see those posts if you want to...

Today, I set myself to go out to the fabric store to buy fabric to make bread bags and turn some old pillows into smaller cushions... I was really exited about it but as soon as I paid (it was less then 40$) and got off the store I felt bad... I felt like I didn't really need that right away and I could have waited and put that 40$ towards our project! Of course, you can't return fabric... so I walked back home with a bitter feeling and promised myself I would not do that again and make the best use out of all the fabric! 

Got home, opened my Instagram and the first thing I see is a "No $pend November" challenge. I thought it was a sign... I mean, spending just 40$ used to be nothing for me... not even worth mentioning! I am definitely onto something I should look into and perhaps challenge...

Plus, November, although is my birthday, is NOT my favorite month... and there will be only 2 of us until the 26th so it makes it easier. Right?

I will try this.

I have noted down my expenditures for each day of the month. I also lowered by budget by 20% when it comes to groceries  (food and toiletries) and  40% for Starbucks.
There will be no eating out - except for my birthday.
I will write down everything I spent that is not precisely budgeted ( like mailing something or emergency repair or replacement of something...)

It will give me a month to see how I feel being really frugal.
I think, at this point in my life, I have 2 big projects that are worth a lot to me and could send me into that "really cheap ass" category of people! 😉

Also, it will save me some Christmas shopping... every time November shows up, I get exited with the Christmas vibe... buy gifts... and then buy more in December! That time of the year is one if my weakness when it comes to spending... Which means I overspend... By having to wait until December 1st to do my Christmas shopping and having practice not buying for a month, I think it will change my perspective on that season... I HOPE!

Who is joining me?
Why do you need or want to try this?
Motivation always helps!!!
So does being a group...

Chloe  💜&✌

Who are you?

Who are you? 

Do you even know?

I am not trying to offend anyone but realize I might!

I'm sure I did...

But bare with me...

But really... who are you?

Not your name, your gender, your age, where you live, what you studied, what you do to earn money... not which religion you belong to... not if you have a house, spouse, kids, pets... not where your last trip was and how long it lasted... or when your next is and where... all this, and so much more, I can find out easily... especially in this age of social media! 

All this, in a sense, most of the time, is what you were programmed to do the second you were born...

Whether you want to admit it or not.

Whether you believe it or not.

Who are you? 

The real, messy, fucked up you?

The one who feels lost... alone...

The one who found their real path... finally!

The one who suffered  who fell... but also got back up!

The one that shows up once the conditioning is undone.

The one you want to hide because you are afraid of what people will say...

The one you were before they told you who you should be?

The one in that split second before you were actually born and your path all designed for you... despite who you were suppose to be...

The one you were as a kid when no one was watching... before all the conditioning took place...

The one you still are sometimes... the one that comes out in time of crisis... or extreme joy... the one that shows up when you slow down... get in a silent place and just BE... the one in your dreams at night where you no longer control everything or anything...

I want to know what makes your heart beat, what keeps you up at night, what are you afraid of, grateful for? What makes you smile, tear up?

Who is that person?

Do you know?

You should really make an effort to know him/her.

It is the best version of who you are.

It is who you were suppose to be.

I did the work. It was long. Hard. Scary. Messy.

And I am not sure it is done... it takes a lifetime to do.

It was surprising in some ways but it ended up being very close to who I was as a child/teenagers... not the one I was showing up, but the secret one... the one I would allow to be when no one was watching... the one I would not speak about so much as I was shy to be different... the one in my diary...

It was hard but so much worth it.

I feel more at peace now than at any other point in my life.

I am confident. 

I am happy.

I am grateful.

I am ME. Simply... or not...

Here's who I am: passionate about nature and the environment, knowledge junkie, avid book reader, health freak, compassionate, everything makes me cry and smile... love to share my knowledge, write, knit... hate to cook and do laundry... I can spend hours looking at a bird, a butterfly, a tree, the sky, a lake, a river or the ocean... or any animal... nothing keeps me up at night anymore, I need my beauty sleep... I am passionate about finding me, yoga and meditation... and all that spiritual stuff out there... I want to be free by living in a van... I want to travel all over America... I am afraid of heights and planes... and cancer. I am not too fond of the Human race in general. I have a new found love for camping and star gazing... intrigued by fire... If I love you, I'll do anything I can for you... but if I feel betrayed, there is no going back. I am disciplined for stuff I care about but quite lazy for everything else... I do what makes me happy, not what is expected... I run away ftom any "conventions" or do called "societal rules"... don't tell me I can't do something cuz I will try! I don't accept no as an answer without explanation... I am too much in my head... I forget to say please too often but say thank you a lot...

This is me. Messy. Pretty. Complicated.

But aware. Present. Honest. 

So.... who are you?

Chloe  💜&✌

Reading brings you freedom!

Early 2016, I signed up, with myself, to do a reading marathon. I meant to read 42 books in a year. That averaged to 3.5 books per month. I was still working 20h a week back then and not much of a reader... never was. But it actually grew on me and I completed my challenge by October - so I read 4.2 books per month!

Then someone suggested I kept reading to 150 and see what happened... and I did! By the end of 2017 I was there. I kept picking up speed.

And I never stopped. I am now an avid reader. Always a pile at home of books to be read. I will never stop. But I stopped counting. Late 2017...

It has changed me in so many ways.
It brought me knowledge. Lots of it.
It widened my horizon.
It has help me understand myself.
It helped me heal physically,  emotionally and spiritually.
It sparkled my creativity.
It challenged me.
It brought me freedom.

I kept a list of books to be read and read in the above pictured notebook.  There were books in there people suggested, books I saw someone reading, books from an author I liked, books I saw at the library and in bookstores... books I came across that attracted me... so many books!

I tried different types of lists... to make it more organize, simpler, neater, etc... but it got messy anyhow... and it was cumbersome! Below is the latest list I tried... with a legend and everything! It was super clean!!! But even more difficult to keep up with...

Every time I would bring a book back from the library, I would add it and code it.., then once read, cross it of. Lately, I've found myself lenient with the list keeping... So before bringing books back I have to double check it's all under control!

This morning I woke up, did my yoga/meditation and suddenly the List just no longer made any sense... I realized I wanted that list to prove that I am an avid reader... to keep track of the number and quality of books I read... but for what? For who? This is very unlike me... and as time went by, I had to admit to myself that I was doing that for the wrong reasons.  I'm not gonna go all sentimental on you but I was raised been told that I didn't like reading, that the books I chose were too easy, childish, not deep enough, not big enough, from the wrong authors... as I was compared to my sibling. And it stuck. I was also told that I was bad at writing... basically anything to do with words... So for years I avoided reading and writing. Or hide what I was reading/writing.

Enough.

I like to read. All sorts of things... science, nature, sociology, lifestyle, philosophy, spiritual, self-help, psychology, classic novel, modern novel... in French or English... big or small... deep to crack my head open to very light... and that is OK.

I read for ME (not to prove to anyone that I do).
To make me feel good. To learn. To use my brain.
Because I like it.
I love it!!!
And it makes me feel free.

But the List and the keeping track doesn't.

So what if I take out a book I already read? If I don't recall it, perhaps I should read it again.

I trust, by experience, that the right book will show up at the right time! It will.

So from now on, I only have this very short list that I keep of books I want to read just in case... and just because I really want to read them or re-read them eventually. I will no longer have a list bigger than that. And no legends no color coding, no dating, etc...

Just reading.

And writing.
This blog.
And my second book.

For those of you who would be interested, here's a picture of my first book (published in 2013) which you can get at Indigo or Amazon.

And what about you?
Do you like to read? What books? Genre?
Do you like to write?

Chloe 💜&✌

Why I decided on trying a capsule wardrobe...

I am very early on in my year long clothes shopping ban.

And quite frankly, I am kind of freaking out!!! Already.

I know why I am doing this. 

Consumerism makes no sense as it is now.

People all over the world are abused so that we can change our clothes every season or even more often... for a really cheap price!

The cotton industry is one of the more polluting one with excessive use of pesticides.

Landfills are loaded with perfectly wearable clothes.

Destroyed denim is done using a chemical that is neurotoxic and leave workers with permanent damages to their system over time...

Child labor.

And I could go on and on...

I could pretend I don't know that.

I could say that I am only punishing myself as I don't have a big enough impact.

But in the end of the day, I have to sleep at night.

I have to live with my conscience.

But I LOVE CLOTHES!!! I LOVE TO BUY THEM, WEAR THEM, CHANGE OUTFIT MORE THAN ONCE A DAY...

Also, I am a reformed shopaholic. I've come a long way. I wanna keep going... so the shopping ban makes sense.

Plus, I have a short term goal for which every penny saved will make it more interesting! And a medium term goal which will definitely require me owning less clothes... ideally.

So I WILL DO THIS. 

Think I found something that could help myself create variety within my own closet at no cost!

Ever heard of a capsule wardrobe?

I tried it in the past but the idea of wearing the same 30 or so items for a whole season did not please me at all. Too restrictive, borderline boring.

But then, I read "the curated closet" and the author mentionned that you can change your capsule wardrobe every month!!! Wow!!! Why didn't I think of that before?

I started the next day... pulled out all my clothes. Chose the ones that were the most season appropriate. Decided to start with 2 pants, 2 skirts and a dress and build from there...

An hour later, I had 29 items, including outerwear, scarves and footwear that I will wear until the end of November at which point I will create my next capsule wardrobe and so on for every month of the year of my shopping ban.

This morning, I took an extra hour to come up with outfits and take pictures. There are a few here and more on my Instagram account.

I had so much fun... and I could have kept going...so many more ideas! You can create many outfits with 29 items and a little experience and creativity!!!

This dress can be worn in so many ways...  as a tunic on top of jeans and t-shirts is one of my favorite! I would also wear the t-shirt on top, lose the jeans and wear leggings...

Jeans skirt from this summer with a t-shirt and sweater... but also with a boho tunic or a flannel shirt!

And two more where you can actually create about 6 outfits with those items!!! When all your color match it gets really easy!!!

Over the year, I am hoping this will help me eliminate a few items - either because their quality is not there or just because I "force" myself to  wear them but don't really want to. Or they are not flexible enough to be worn at least 2 seasons and in different ways!

Have you ever tried a capsule wardrobe?
And did it work for you? Why? Why not?

Chloe 💜&✌

Update on pantry challenge

On Sept 30th, I started a pantry challenge. You can read about it here. Usually, I do these to clean up excess food that accumulated over time and may, without expiring, be not as good and fresh...

This time around, I have observed, quite happily, that I don't really have food that just stands by! That was great news!!!

It also meant that I could not go very long before buying food... so I had no money sleeping in my cupboards... that's OK.

Food lying around is money lying around...
Except it eventually goes bad...
And wasted food is wasted money!

I also came to realise that I am quite comfortable eating the same things over and over again... like my signature soup in the above picture.

It makes my life simpler,  my food budget lower and I get to spend less time in the kitchen! I am getting a post ready on 5 meals or more that I eat all the time, are cost effective, complete and easy to make. More on that later!

This pantry challenge also made me see that we throw away way too much food for no good reason! It is a waste of money and resources! And once you know that 1 billion people on this planet do not eat enough, why waste?

I know it sounds cheesy... something we heard growing up... forcing us to finish our plate and perhaps eat more than we needed to... however if you look at it another way, there is some truth in it.

My suggestions:

1) only buy food you will eat within a few days
2) menu planning and grocery list - and you stick to it!
3) put less in your plate and eat it all, go for seconds if you need to
4) keep left overs and perhaps expand them  (adding something to make it enough for another meal)
5) batch cook a soup and eat it all week or freeze it to use veggies before they go bad
6) cut up and freeze veggies that you might lose shortly

Also, I am looking into that book from the picture. It is in no way vegan but most recipes are vegetarian and/or can be made so or veganised. It is just a different way to look at what we eat it makes you think and I like that! Some recipescwill end up in my recipe post for sure!

Thanks for reading,
Chloe  💜&✌

Unusual to do list

As we are getting closer to November... The crazy season is about to begin!

The season of:
Too busy
Over spending
Over eating

The season of all excess...

Then comes January and there is this feeling we get that no matter what we did and how much we tried to please everyone, "something's missing"... and we are not quite happy about it!

Well, my solution is this TO DO list.
Print it, rewrite it, share it... keep it in sight but mostly DO IT! Before the end of the year. For you... because you need it and YES you deserve it!

And don't hesitate to come up with your own... you get the idea!

Unusual to do list:

1) finish knitting that scarf
2) knit another one
3) read that novel that is well overdue to be read
4) eat homemade soup for a week
5) do a pantry challenge
6) declare some sort of shopping ban
7) go back to an old tradition you use to like and reinstate it in your life
8) declutter your home and donate what you no longer like, use, want
9) bake cookies from scratch
10) smile... a lot
11) hold the door for a stranger
12) go for a walk in nature
13) curate your closet- most people wear 20% of their clothes, 80% of the time. Are you that different?
14) enjoy a day without technologies
15) binge watch a season of your favorite show
16) listen to classical music
17) have coffee with a friend - no cell on the table
18) invite someone over for no reason and don't make a big fuss out of it

And most of all enjoy this every step of the way...
Learn to love the simpler things...
Appreciate being... instead of having!

Chloe 💜&✌

Shopping ban update

On September 18th I started a shopping ban. You can read about it here.

Now in order to support my decision, I  started reading the book in the above picture.

Quite frankly, I am outraged!

There are no new facts in there... just stuff I know and am well aware off, but chose to ignore. Like we all do. It's easier. We don't have to think about it. We do not need to make an effort to change.

I am outraged at my own selfishness...
I know better!
It's time I stop playing the ostrich.
We are running out or resources.
People are literally dying.

I need to look up more into manufacturers and their policies. I need to find real eco friendly sweat shop free ethical brands. There has to be something...

Did you know that the average households contains 300,000 items? No kidding.
Did you know that the average household as at least three times more screen than people in it?
We are constantly bombarded by marketing that is more and more targeted to what we like as we are being spied on when we go online (cookies anyone?).
Did you know that marketers, long ago, figured out how to use their publicitities to trigger dopamine (the feel good hormone)? Hence making us addicted to, not only their product, but to buying in general. The dopamine rush is short lived but addictive... so when you get it, it runs out fast but you need a fix not too long after... so you buy more...
Did you know that the textile industry is the second more polluting after meat?
Did you know that we send every year so much clothes to landfill that we are running out of space and sending our garbage to Third World country? How is this even acceptable?

I don't know about you, but me, knowing all that, and the fact that we are abusing the Earth, it's resources (cotton is grown using excessive amount of pesticides for example) and people (sweat shop, destroyed denims made with dangerous chemicals creating irreversible nerve damage to the workers)... and creating irreparable damages to our planet makes me want to think twice before buying something...

For that reason, I am turning my three months clothes shopping ban into a year long one. As of today.
Therefore I am not to buy clothes until October 10th, 2019. Or at least do my very best not to.

I won't lie. It won't be easy. I love clothes...
But I have to try really hard.
Look into alternative.
More sustainable ones...
In a year, I should change how I see buying clothes , find better options, discover better brands, other ways...

I already do thrift store shopping randomly and if the absolute need to get clothes arise, I will thrift store shop - but will seriously try not to. Even more than ever before.

There are 3 exceptions:

1) I need waterproof winter boots. I can't do without where I live. Mine were worn out.

2) Replacing worn out socks and underwear. But this is never where I like to spend money...

3) I have 100$ that I got as a gift from my husband to buy myself something nice. Which means "clothes I like" in his language. I will have to see the smartest way to use it.

In order to put more chances of success on my side, I have already unlike and unfollow every "store" I was following. I certainly do not need the stimulation... also, I will stay away from stores as much as I can... only problem here is that my husband loves to hang out at the mall for an hour or so regularly. Perhaps he could go by himself?

Those of you who have been following me for a while might remember that this is not my first trial at a shopping ban... and that usually, I don't succeed at 100%... BUT, every time I get better at it! And this is what matters. And quite frankly this time around I feel more confident about it... I think this is really the next big thing to be addressed in my life.

Who's joining me?
In your own way is great... just try something!

Chloe 💜&✌

Again and again...

"The price of everything is the amount of life you exchange for it." Henry David Thoreau 

Am I the only one who always fall back into the same traps?
You don't have to answer... I know I am not!

This blog for instance... I love to write it. I do.

And then, someone puts into my head that since I love it so much, I could use it to make money... point me in that direction... and I start looking, I start studying HOW to do that! I know the theory. It is a lot of work and it has proven time and time again that it works.

Here I am, giving it a try because why not? If I am going to write, I should make money out of it! Right?

Not.

In order to have a successful, money making blog, you have to spend hours on blogs, social media, web site... like, comment, befriend, show your face. You have to give yourself clear subjects, specific words you reuse, a color chart, a tone, a frequency, style of  pictures, signature phrases, you have to follow a schedule, study your audience, look at your competitors, befriend the enemy... and the list goes on and on!

Well, THAT is not for me.
I don't want to do that. Any of it.
I am now aware of my pattern, my triggers and I am staying away from it all.

I am still writing here.
Because I love it. Because it has help me go through a lot of shit. It has help me see who I am. It has help me heal and move on. Not because I am popular.

I will still write here.
But screw popularity.
I am not here for the money. If it comes over time because people appreciate my uniqueness well good. It it doesn't that is fine too. It's the third time I get into that trap... and now it has become clear to my why.  So, no more.

This, to me, is a healing process and if it helps other I will be more than happy. 
I have very few readers and for the most parts I don't even know who you are... just where you are from. But I know you keep coming back.

I chose quality over quantity.

And quite frankly, I like it that way.
If I dig deep inside, and I am truly honest with myself, being "small" truly satisfies me.

Here's why:

I want to remain true to myself, write about what I want and when I want. I do not want to become a brand, a public figure, someone. I do not want to feel force to do something because I need a new picture to post or a new subject for my blog. I don't want to create expectations - I believe they are self-made jails.

I am not spending hours on social media weekly...
I am not getting a tone or a niche... or studying what you guys want or need...

I want to be happy. Free.

Simple makes me happy and free.

This is why I am an essentialist.
I chose. I prioritize. I value.

And what they say is needed to make that online business work is nothing I wish to chose, prioritize, value.

My voice is unique and so is that of other bloggers.
I wish not to compete with them.
There are 7  billion people on earth. Billions of people on line everyday... it is more than enough to share.

I just want to write. To heal. To live. Happy. Free.

I have the money I need. I am not in this for the money.

I am here to share. Period.

Plus quite frankly, I would feel fake as a minimalist/essentialist to join the race to the "biggest best minimalist blogger"! I chose this lifestyle to enjoy life. Real life. Not online life that consist of comparing myself to others to see who is the best blogger, the biggest youtuber, the best minimalist, the more awesome frugal person... etc...

I don't want to fuss over one less follower, or stress about why my audience did not grew last week...

I just want to live my life.
I refuse to be part of the online "Jones's".

So yes, I love you guys and I love to write so I will keep doing it. But nothing will change... it will be messy, unplanned, about anything and everything... because this is my voice. This is my blog. Not a business. Not a personal figure. It will not be "improved". In any way. I like it like that. It is just as imperfect and beautiful and awesome as me.

Hope you guys are OK with that.

Chloe 💜&✌

Did you signed up for this?

Fall always brings about reflection in me...

This time, the trigger was a sentence I heard on a tv show "... I didn't sign up for this..."

Right.
Maybe...
But still...
Or?

Did I signed up for this?

Some of it yes... some of it no...
Is there anything I can do?
Do I absolutely have to put up with it?

I certainly did not signed up for being diagnosed with MS right before turning 31 after being sick for six years...
No one would! But I had no choice. I had to fight... or flight... I decided the former. Good choice.

What about the rest of my life?
I already did most of the work on that... with my life.

So let me ask you a few qestions.
The steps I went through, before I could say that my life, as it is now, is pretty much what I signed up for! All of it! Including how I deal with MS.

What about you?
Did you signed up for your life as it is?
Why ask? Why bother?

Well because life is pretty and ugly and messy... but lovely. It can be surprising and annoying... though and easy breezy... fair or not... it can be anything you want and everything you hate... but it mostly is up to you.

The unfair, the ugly, the messy and the annoying can ALL be turned around, in time and if you want to.

It won't be easy. It wasn't for me. But nothing worth it ever is and the one life you were given is worth it.
It won't be pretty. Not right away.
It will require work and sweat and decisions...
And we don't like these.

Are you ready?

So.... did you really signed up for your life as it is now?

Really? Honestly? All of it?

If the answer is yes, well I am truly, genuinely, happy for you! This post may not be what you're looking for...
If the answer us no, well keep on reading. No worries, I have no way of knowing if you read it all or not.  This is between you and your future better, happier you!

What about your health? Are you as healthy as you would like to be? Did you look into your options? All of them. Even those who may seem silly... because if you tried all the logic ones and you still are not as healthy as you would like to be, what have you got to lose?

What about work? Are you satisfied there or is it a mean to an end that never ends? Are you staying because you've been there for do long? Because of the money? Because this is what you studied? Or  you already invested so much time and energy and perhaps money in it? What would people think/say if you quit? Is it something you would do again if you were 20? Or would you chose something else? What if I told you, you do not need all that money. No you don't. Not if to get it you are killing yourself... slowly but surely... there are better ways. Did you really think this through? Did you look at all the options? I can help if you want... free if charge. Really. I've done it before and I'd do it again.

And relationships? People are meant to flow in and out of your life like everything else... Is everyone in your surrounding there for the right reasons?  Or because they are blood related? Or life long friends? Or the other parent to your kid (s)? Set boundaries. Healthy ones. For you. Do people respect and love you or the idea they have of who you are? The image you project? Do they give as much as they get from the relationship? Do you feel like you are holding the whole world on your shoulders? Are you empty? Do anyone fill you or everyone gets filled by you?

What about free time? Activities? Passions? Hobbies? Do you have any of these? Do you have time for it? Do you spend, every week, time by yourself for yourself? When was the last time you were alone, completely alone doing something you like but serves no purpose to anyone else but you?

So, did you signed up for this? Do you want to sign up for something better? Because you can. It's your life.  Your choice. You can sign a new contract anytime you want. As often as you want. No one can do it for you.

Own it.
Stop blaming others or life.
Own your shit.
Get over it.
It's time.
You deserve it.

LIVE YOUR LIFE YOUR WAY.
IT'S THE ONLY WAY.

let me know if I can help...
don't forget to sign up...
and share...

Chloe 💜&✌

List of books read in August and September 2018

This is funny... this pictures actually contains books I will read over the next few weeks... taking 99% of my books at the library, I bring them back once red and therefore I can no longer take a picture! Should have done it before...

Oh well... it is what it is!

Here's a list of the books I read in Aug-Sept.
Some titles are in French because I am unaware of an existing translation...
I read equally well in French and English so I switch it up all the time!

The zoo keeper's wife, Ackerman
Ma Mercedes contre un tracteur, tone 2
The signature of all things, Gilbert
Bridget Jones Diary, Fielding
Quiet, Cain
L'horloge de la nature, Wohlenben
The secret life of trees, Wohlenben
Cote Femme, Simone de Beauvoir
You are a badass, Sincero
Essentialism
My Story, Rosa Parks
Quinze ans apres, Hardin
Je suis Lagom
Hygge

Let me know if you've read any of these...

Don't forget to subscribe and please share!!!

Chloe 💜&✌

What makes my world go round...

"You wander from room to room. Hunting for the diamond necklace. That is already around your neck." Rumi

Time for another one of those...

Gratitude is really important! It brings about a shift in your energy... and everything goes better!

So here it is, a list of what makes my world go round!

Rules are: no edits, no thinking to much write down what comes to my mind and stop. Maximum time : 1 min

My adventurous husband

My soldier son

The rain

Birds

Waterfalls

Fundy National Park

Walking

Clouds

Sunset

Waves

Fall

Reading

Writing

Love

And what about you?

What are you grateful for?

What makes YOUR world go round?

In the end, it really does come down to the small details...

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And share!!!

Tks

Chloe 💜&✌