Friday, August 29, 2008

Friday Favorites



one: rose mini print from tuscanystudios
two: implore earrings by simplytess
three: rusty trunk print from Daydreamers
four: renee scarf by cosyupyourcloset

I had one of those funny realizations driving into work this morning: I want to be happy. Okay, don't laugh yet :) But, I was thinking about this summer and the things that I've done, places I've traveled, moods, attitudes, and feelings I've worked through and I realized that even in the darkest of my moments if I made the decision to keep moving, to try a little harder to see it from the other person's point of view, to take a stab at being positive regardless of the murkiness of my feelings, my spirit and soul moved towards happiness. It's like something very basic in me strives towards a balanced place of happiness and peace. Okay, you can laugh now :) But, I have to admit, that there have been moments, sometimes days, and even weeks when I haven't been happy this summer: disappointment with myself, arguments with those I love, frustrations at work, depression, and physical trials. They've all been there. And yet, the moment I took even a little step forward (into the light, after the storm, in the morning, out of the cave, after the tears, once I've picked myself up, however you want to say it) there was momentum there to keep moving forward. It was the simplest of realizations, almost laughable :)

27 comments:

+20 said...

if there's anyone to laugh at you after reading what you wrote in your post, I would say that go look at the mirror and laugh at yourself. love,

naphtali said...

This is my first visit to your page....{found you via a merry mishap}...When I opened your page my eyes were filled with delight! such a lovely blog!! I'll definitely be back.

Vana said...

Here is to a well written post! I am with you in all those feelings..i too have been through some up and downs this summer...Good thing Fall is around the corner...Let's take in a deep breath and start fresh!

Cindy said...

lovely, honest post julia. i guess it's hope and optimism that keeps you moving forward and with those things you'll make it through (i hope that makes sense). i relate to how you've been feeling.

i love your favorites and will be ordering that pretty rose mini print. i adore pink roses and small things, so it's perfect.

have a lovely weekend!

please sir said...

It's great to hear your move forward even in the toughest times. I agree and feel the same way. For some it is easier to be sad, then try to be happy. The effort for happiness is worth it.

Oh and love those earrings!

::::Lula Boutique:::: said...

Oh I so happy to read this! I completely understand! It's like, happiness can be so complicated yet so simple. It's just so easy to get "wrapped" up in things sometimes. You just have to step "outside" of the moment and make a simple decision to approach the moment with a peaceful & happy (and open) perspective.

OK..I saw you posted a bunch of pictures earlier this week that I missed so I'm off to check out the rest of your beautiful blog. Oh yeah...Thank you so very much for entering my giveaway...I hope you win!) ;)

xo
KK

Krissy | Paper Schmaper said...

Sweetie, I am right there with you... Let's go hand and hand into the sunlight :)

(teeheehee. but really, um... yeah)

Karen said...

Sometimes the most basic of realizations helps us to get over our fears and doubts, and keep us moving. I distinctly remember a moment like that -- I had to chance to go to Australia a few years ago and I was hiking with a group up to the top of a hill. At one point, we basically had to climb over the side of a cliff...and I was scared to death that I would fall. Suddenly I just thought, "well, then just don't fall."

Laughably simple and yet so true. Wonderful post :)

Jessie Cacciola said...

omg those earrings are so gorgeous! xo

Leah said...

i hear ya. i want to be happy too. and i want you to be happy as well! happy, happy, joy, joy! ;-)

Beth said...

Bravo to you my dear. That is what it is all about... making a conscious decison to be happy. Everything else is just clutter.

Thanks for the kind words on my chairs...that is such a compliment coming from the talented Miss Otter.

I want to paint a whole room in my house the color of that trunk and fill it daily with fresh pink roses and peonies. Just beautiful.

Jaimee McClellan said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one with the same point of view. It's a conscious effort but once it "clicks", it's amazing the difference you feel almost instantly. (And when those migraines hit, I know it's not JUST physically draining...it's a whole spectrum of pain, depression, guilt...hang in there)

Mrs.French said...

simple? yes...but some people never figure it out. I love your picks, but I love your words even more. I was right where you are a year ago when I made the same realization...I finally feel as if I have hit that happy place and I am not going back.

●• Thereza said...

lovely post, excellent blog!
thanks for stopping at tiny red :)
the red otter will def go on my links. great!

picciolo said...

Nothing to laugh at there Julia, what a good thing to realise. I think I am going in the same direction as you, I've been trying to take a small step back and enjoy each day rather than just cram as much as I can into each one. And I love all these images, just beautiful.
: )

Unknown said...

gorgeous photos, as per usual jewels!

i'm glad you're keeping your chin up, hun.. sometimes all you need is to take a deep breath and keep chuggin' along.

Teal Chic said...

I understand and am sorry for everything that you are going through. It's been a tough summer for my family and I as well. But when you think about it- it takes just as much energy to be sad, as it does to be happy. And nobody can change what's happened to us, only how we react to it. Great post, and I love all the photos....they're gorgeous!

Suzanne : : S.HOPtalk said...

What a beautiful post Julia both visually and in its written form. Happiness seems so simple, yet some people are never able to truly achieve it. I am a firm believer that much of it is a choice, which you've so eloquently captured here. Cheers to you and a lifetime of happiness.

dee said...

It's not laughable at all, and very sweet of you to share. We've all been there, and that's just part of living. But to be able to learn from that and reflect is really important. The end of summer always brings me to that place, too. I really love this photo collection, as well:)

Have a great last weekend of the summer...and be sure to have lots of laughs!!!

Waterrose said...

Yep I think sometimes we need to give ourselves a bit of a pep talk. We can all get lost in the crazy everyday things and start a downward spiral. Good for ou to recognize that it can be mind over matter.

littlebyrd said...

Can I just hire you to be my personal shopper? You really do find the most beautiful things! I love your pursuit of happiness - and I think it necessary to feel all the non happy feeelings to recognize happiness when she come calling.

Jude said...

Got a lovely postcard on Friday! Maybe I'll see that skyline in person one of these days.

I think you know I've been feeling a lot of the same this summer. I really try to push things down and just keep moving forward, because it's all any of us can do, really, and in the big scheme of things I have no room to complain. But, knowing that doesn't make it any easier. My hurdle right now is looking around me and knowing the job is the job, the house the house, things are things, and it's me that needs to make the big changes to get to where I want to be. Still looking for that roadmap, though! ☺

XO

ThePeachTree said...

Holy cow, otterface! What an amazing post, realization, thrive for life!! I think we all really need to take that extra step. People are always saying to stop and look around every once and awhile. But what about that need for drive and continuation.

Love you!!

TIG said...

Lovely post, and lovelier still that you've made that step forward, toward happiness :)

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend.

Unknown said...

Lovely post. And lovely picks :)

Unknown said...

That feels like a kind of zen laughing - light, ordinary... here's to that kind of laughing, a GOOD kind of laughing-at-ourselves!

Marla LeMasters said...

It's such an odd sensation to read your post. You see, I am so much older than you--62--and wishing so much that I could turn back time and have it all to do over again. You are so young--and so incredibly talented. Before I got to this posting, I had been scanning your work and thinking, "Wow, what would it be like to have so much of life ahead of me, to have all that talent, to live in the Midwest again..." and then to read that you, too, have your low moments and times of frustration and depression--just as I do now --and did way back then! What I believe, for what it is worth, is that life is never going to be easy, we're always going to have disappointment and loss--but they're the things that make us grow and that make us human, that give us depth and heart. I think the fact that you are so creative and so talented means that you feel more deeply, you experience much more than others. That's your gift. Long post, but you're right to keep on. It's odd at my point in life, knowing I'm close to end, to look back on this life, and it hasn't been perfect or even easy--but it's been such a wonderful advernture to just live and to be alive. For all that it was not, it has still been so wonderful, a gift just to live in this world. I hate to leave it.