A Californian Darling.

It is no secret (see profile notes to the right) that I am a touch obsessed with the delightful, witty and charming Ms Witherspoon (obviously, I assume she is as I describe her because that's the fantasy in my head and no one can tell me otherwise!) therefore it should come as little surprise that I'm swooning over pictures of her amazing Ojai home in the current issue of Elle Decor.

From the high wooden ceilings, to the wrought iron chairs on the Terrace overlooking the lavish grounds, this house is truly stunning in its beautiful simplicity...in my humble opinion.

Cute. Charming. Classy. Just like its owner.

A Promise or Four

If 2012 was suppose to be the year the world ended, it's certainly spinning fast enough to fly straight off its axis. Blink and we'll miss it.

In an attempt to slow-down, take stock and simply enjoy the year a little more before it's over, I have made a list of activities, and must-dos I simply, well, must-do before I bid farewell to 2012 and find myself saying in January, "this year I really should start...{insert subject of interest here}".

Friends and family will be the first to tell you I'm a tragic I'll-Do-It-One-Day kinda girl, but now I fear that day has found me and is urging me to havago.

Unfortunately now I've told you about it, I have to do it. I'm accountable for my actions and worse still, I'm forcing myself to share all the details with you one blog post at a time. Bum. Poo. Wee!

As there are four months remaining in the year, here are four activities in no particular order, I aim to accomplish before 31 December 2012 {drum roll please}...

1. Yoga: Formerly a yoga devotee, I gave it away when I discovered red wine. Understandable really. Now I'm awake before 7am every day and no longer have a child dependent on Thelma and Louise, I don't have a reasonable excuse to leave my orange yoga mat under the bed much longer. It has been 6 years!

2.  Swim: I have never liked swimming. Yes, I'll splash about in a pool and frolic in (small) waves but the thought of following a black line for an hour leaves me short of breath. Or, that is, it use too. It's not clear whether it's the smell of chlorine from Teach's swimming towel most mornings or the appeal of a no-impact sport that has this old duck quacking, but I'm going to give a crack.{Mum, stop laughing!}

3. Read: I hereby vow to put down the TV remote control and read the 5 books that have each been started, yet sit neglected beside my bed. Glossy womens magazines are not included in this promise - they're half the reason I don't open the hardbacks!

4. Cook: The cupboard above our stovetop is full, neigh, overflowing of cookbooks by Jaime Oliver, Donna Hay, The Women's Weekly, Maggie Beer, Nigella Lawson, Curtis Stone, and many others that all promise to have me cooking sumptuous meals with little effort, or at the very least, successfully with little skill. Julie & Julia I am not, but I will dedicate Sunday nights to exploring, tasting and hopefully achieving one new recipe from any one of the aformentioned Chefs. Lucky I'm going to start excercising again!

What would you like to achieve before the end of the year?

Head vs Heart

When life gives you lemons, it is a common assumption you'll make lemonade, right?

What if you attempt to make lemonade but while you're squeezing out all the juice you notice you're out of ice and sugar so you make a last minute decision to bake a lemon tart? Should I be disappointed with the outcome because I had my heart set on lemonade or embrace what I could create; a tasty tart?

What's with all the lemons?

Recently I mentioned my desire to start my own business, however, in my haste to make it happen and "achieve my dream" (vomit on a cliche!) it became abundantly clear that perhaps now isn't the right time to start and I need to focus on achieving my dream in smaller more managable pieces.

Voicing my concerns to Teach about building a comprehensive business and having it make money in 6 weeks to co-incide with my current contract ending, made us both weak in the knees.

Do I really want to put myself under that much pressure? Do I really want to put my family under that much pressure? Besides, when I do get to finally showoff my fabulous new career I want it to be AMAZING not average or worse still...ho-hum! 

So I decided to get realisitic and focus on what I can accomplish in a short-time frame and readjust my expectations - or at least trust that while my intuition is guiding me along the right path, I need to follow the path completely, not just expect to cross the finish line before I've done the leg work (again with the cliches!).

It will happen, I can feel it, but I wont rush in to something because I think I've finally cracked the clues spinning around in my heart and my head. After all, patience is a virtue. Or so I'm told.

Helen Thomas over at A Mother's Intuition says it very well: 

Part of the lesson in learning to follow your intuition is to let go of your attachment to outcomes. You cannot guarantee that making a particular decision (whether based on intuition or not) will guarantee the outcome you wish.

Image: The EveryGirl

5 Regrets You Can Change

 

I have a sign hanging in my bathroom that reads: What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? 

It has hung (read: held up with blue tac) in the same spot, saying the same thing for two years, yet it wasn't until today that I read it to myself over and over again placing emphasis on each word to trying to harness the power of its message. What would I attempt to do if I knew I could not fail? Interesting...

I arrived at work a short time later and opened an email from a girlfriend who is supporting me through the ups and downs, uncertainity and confusion surrounding my desire to start my own business. I knew I would not fail if I shared it with you.

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."