narrylikes

Just look at her, all dressed up, ready to go hunting. I am sure if something jumps out from behind a bush, she will not be able to do much. Maybe one of her shirt buttons* might pop off, after she gets a serious fright, but other than that she just looks good. Agree?

Yeah okay, she looks very good.

I am not the type of person who goes shopping. Yes, I will go buy my weekly groceries or dinner after work, but shopping as a ‘hobby’? No thanks. I prefer ordering online and having it delivered a month later, which means post office baby.

My parents also taught me that you only buy something when you need it. There is a big difference between wanting something and needing something.

After all these years – this is how my head works. Do you need it? No? Then you do not have to buy it. Done. Next!

Rewind. For the longest time now, I have been looking for grey and black zebra leggings. About a month ago I walked into a store with my mamas and I spotted the perfect pair, and I wanted it! Yes, exclamation mark.

I started going through all the different sizes to get my size – before anyone else could get to it. Rushed to the fitting rooms with a mamas right behind me.

Me: “Oooh! I can’t believe they have this! This is exactly what I wanted for sooo looong! Don’t worry, I won’t wear it the way I am wearing it now. I will wear a long top or something over it. Something plain.”

*Silence*

Me: “Does this make me look like a clown?”
Mamas: “It’s very you.”

*Wait a second.. what does that mean?*

Me: “But I think I’m going to need a smaller size.”

Turns out they did not have a smaller size. Guess I did not need it after all, huh?

A few weeks went by and I walked past the same store and noticed these lovely zebra babies again. Without even looking for it, I noticed the smaller size – my size.

I gracefully took it off the rail, slowly walked towards the checkout – like a real lady. Yeah right!

After this weekend I realized that I did not only want these grey and black zebra leggings, but I needed it. They are happy pants! Promise.

What does all of this have to do with the woman in her hunting gear? Not sure really, but she is hunting and I have happy zebra pants.

The end.

* Her shirt does not have any buttons.

This has been a whirlwind of a week, mostly good.

Most valuable lesson learned?
When you close the door to one thing, you open the door to many new (and often exciting) things. If I have to tell you about this week, especially if I have to explain everything, it might be best if we just have a cup of coffee. Or rooibos tea, because I have not had a cup of coffee in years.

Most important news?
I have a baby brother and a little sister. No, this did not happen over night – it happened within a few hours. No, my mother did not give birth to 2 kids and no, my dad did not have these kids with another woman. Like I said, it is best to discuss this over a cup of coffee / tea.

All that matters is that I finally have the baby brother that I always wanted and I have a younger sister too. Too much excitement. I know, it might seem a bit confusing and it might sound as if I have completely lost my mind, but they are real, they are in their 20s and they are MY brother and sister.

Yes, it is okay if you are jealous. Might be a little jealous of myself.

Most important part to remember?
“It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten”* as long as you “make peace within”.

* Quoted Vanilla Breath

These are the results of a tantrum. Today started off a little weird, then all of a sudden it felt like everything was caving in – thanks to people and their selfish ways (mostly). Lately at work I tell everyone – well, just about everyone – everything. So they know by now that I do not take most things seriously and when something ‘serious’ happens, I get over it very quickly.

Today was a little different. Had a bit of a tantrum, talking a bit too loud on the phone and yapping like a real girl. During lunchtime I left the office, to blow off some steam and buy (too many) macarons – hoping that the sugar rush would calm my moods. Did not quite work.

Back at the office I went around sharing macarons with some of the guys. Obviously gave them a little macaron lesson too. Back at my desk, there were flowers – bright yellow poppy flowers. The guys bought it for me ‘just because it looked like you were having a really rough day’. Yay.

After that, I got hot dogs too. Yum.

Might have to plan a tantrum in the near future, because it seems to pay off.

Recently it was time to say goodbye to a big part of my life. Most of you will know what I am talking about and some might wonder, but it is okay – there is no need to explain, because I am just going to yap yap about stuff in general. I know I am not supposed to use the word ‘stuff’, but I cannot help it – I like it.

One little part of the ‘goodbye’ involved moving Narrylikes to a new host and server. No time for advertising and I will not be mentioning the man who likes race cars and girls with leather jackets. His website might be slow, but so far I am happy with my new host.

There are probably a few things that you can think of and say “that will never happen to me”. Well, sometimes the impossible happens and when you are left with a missing piece that thought will change to “what happened now?” Usually followed by a panic state and in some cases, tears – and in some cases, too many tears.

Goodbyes are always hard, but if you manage to get through the first part, it will eventually get easier (to deal with).

Superglue. The name says it all and you would assume that it is made to stick. Heck, with a glue that was in veterinary use for mending bone, you would think that a ‘goodbye’ will not even be an option. Unfortunately, there are street vendors and stores that sell ‘superglue’ – their version of it, of course. After a few days that thing you tried to stick onto your wall is now hanging at a slight angle. The week after that, it is on the floor. No matter how many times you stick it to the wall with your ‘superglue’, it will not stick. So much for a SUPER glue, huh?

Not everything sticks. Some glue will work better than others and if I have to recommend one, I would say ‘No More Nails’. The blackboard on my kitchen wall is still there, and I think I might have a problem if I would ever want to take it off. That is only because my glue is so super-awesomely-strong.

If the glue – that has to stick 2 things together – is not of the super kind, it will not last. Which is why goodbyes happen. Sometimes it is a good thing, because in my case, if the glue had to hold things together any longer, it would have ended up being one horrible, sticky situation.

No puns intended.

The picture is not of a man and a sad woman, it is a picture of the movie ‘Gone With The Wind’. Does it make sense now? Good.

Original post: Friday, August 1, 2001

Contract (kŏn’trăkt’) n.
1. a. An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law. b. The writing or document containing such an agreement.
2. The branch of law dealing with formal agreements between parties.
3. Marriage as a formal agreement; betrothal.

Now that’s one way of looking at it. Ever thought of having contracts in life? Personal / life contracts? It’s something I learned about yesterday. I’ve always known this, just never looked at it this way before.

Everything happens for a reason. You’ve heard that many, many times and it’s one of the biggest clichés you’ll ever hear, but it’s true. Everything DOES happen for a reason. It’s difficult to believe that when something bad happens and no matter what people tell you – you just do not understand WHY it happened.

It has a lot to do with your own mindset, how you CHOOSE to deal with it. How you CHOOSE to look at it. Don’t get me wrong, it will still hurt, because we are human and we do get hurt.

Like the air you breathe, abundance in all things is available to you. Your life will simply be as good as you allow it to be.

Everybody has contracts in their life. Contracts with different people and things that are meant to happen in their life. I know, it sounds airy fairy and I’m a sceptic when it comes to many of these things.

SO! How does it work and how ARE you meant to look at these contracts? I’ve been through many ups and downs in my life, sometimes I hide it… maybe to protect myself in a way or maybe I want people to think I’m a happy person instead of a sad one? Don’t worry, I am happy! everybody has their ups and downs and I really think that you can choose how you accept everything and how you choose to deal with it.

EVERYBODY HURTS. Everybody has their own stuff. We’re all human beings with feelings and those feelings do get hurt. As long as you remember that even the things that hurt you – even if it’s a person who did something to you – it’s a contract you have with them. It was meant to happen. Of course it doesn’t make sense all the time, but do yourself a favor and try to look at it that way.

When you look a situation, it’s much easier to see the “bad things” instead of the good. Once you’ve worked through a situation and you look back at it, there’s usually something good about it. It might not be that specific situation, but something that happened as a result of the “bad situation”. There’s always a little bit of sunshine after the rain.

Many people focus upon unwanted things, with no deliberate attention to the emotional guidance within them, and then they try to compensate for their lackful thinking with physical action. And because of the misalignment of energy, they do not get results from their action, so then they try harder by offering more action, but still things do not improve.

It becomes extremely difficult when you have to deal with contracts that involve things such as cancer. Nobody can explain why people suffer from cancer and why we lose so many loved ones due to cancer. I don’t want to be the person to tell you, it’s a good thing, it happens and it happened for a reason – because I’ve dealt with this before and it hurts and it’s the type of pain that nobody can take away. Never will I say it’s going to be easy, because nothing in life is easy – well, at least not many.

Just remember. We LEARN from every situation that we have to deal with. When we learn, we GROW and we become a better version of who we already are.

After all, that’s what life is about, LEARNING and trying to be the best YOU that you can be, not the person you are expected to be, but the person you want to be.

Never forget your dreams, set your goals, believe in your visions and always remember to ACCEPT your dreams / goals / visions. If you do not accept those, it’ll turn into insecurities. Most of the time it doesn’t happen immediately and it usually doesn’t happen the way we thought it would. As long as you stick to what you WANT, you will eventually get there. In the meantime you just have to be ready to deal with all the contracts.

Being the sceptic that I am – I went for energy healing yesterday. It definitely changed my mindset, how I think about everything that I had to deal with (and some, still have to deal with) in my life. It’s good to be open to new things, part of the learning process.

Dream your dreams. TALK about it, LIVE it and BELIEVE in my new favorite thing… ABUNDANCE!

Photo: Our farm, December 25, 2007. A place where you always feel at home and peaceful. Have you ever experienced absolute silence?

“Eliminate the word impossible from your thinking and speaking vocabularies. Impossible is a failure word. The thought ‘It’s impossible’ sets off a chain reaction of other thoughts to prove you’re right.” – David J. Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big

“When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why. But when you believe, really believe, something can be done, your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it.
(via Philosophers Notes)

Which takes me back to the “job vs career vs calling”.

I really think I have found my career, which will eventually turn into my calling. Not over night, but it will definitely happen.

It is time to DO and time to stick to it. No matter what. The easiest thing is to distract yourself and slow yourself down. How? Oh my every little excuse.

Sometimes there are “bigger” excuses and sometimes it involves moving on and losing people, but beautiful Kandee Johnson said something earlier and that something will stick and it will make me work even harder.

“Sometimes, if you’ve lost a love one… you can take that love you have for them, and go after all your dreams and hopes, with them as your ‘heavenly encouragement’. Take that love for them, and let it help me your confidence, when you feel you can’t do it anymore… do it for them!“

So set your goal and work towards your calling and also remember do it for yourSELF. Of course.

Geddit, geddit!

After my previous post I have made the decision – let’s hope it’s a conscious one – that I will “live with less”. I am already a mnmlist when it comes to buying stuff for myself. My mamas taught me that you only buy something when you need it. So I am a firm believer of “if you do not need it, then you do not buy it”. Probably why I spend most of my money on food. Ya havta eat ya know?

Thanks to Leo Babauta, Zen Habits and mnmlist – “less is the answer”.

Here are a few things I will start doing and in some cases – change the way I do it. If you want, you can add a few things to the list and let’s do this together – yay!

• Avoid new stuff (possessions)
• Learn to love less (contentedness)
  “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” – Socrates
• Clear distractions (doing)
  “Without distractions, you’ll be able to focus. You’ll find peace. You’ll find time for doing what you love.”

Here are a few things that you can do / do less.

“It starts with a decision: I want to be less busy. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

1. Cut back your social networking to network (or two at the most) – including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, forums, etc. These are hugely distracting.
2. Cut back on your social networking “friends”. Stick to your actual friends and colleagues. Networking with thousands of people you don’t know is superficial and distracting.
3. Limit time on social networking, email to specified periods. Set the times you allow yourself to do these activities – from 1-2 p.m., for example.
4. Do less email. Start by sending less. Check email less often. Use the phone or face-to-face conversations when possible.
5. Shut down the internet to work. Disconnect, and work without distractions.
6. Get away from the computer, spend time with actual people.
7. Single-task and focus.
   Which is why I always recommend “The Art of Power” by Thich Nhat Hahn (one of my all time favorite books).
8. Focus on the most important tasks first, before you get distracted.
   Sometimes it is a good  idea to set time limits. Okay Narry, you have 20 minutes to pack all your clothes back into the closet. Errr, 20 minutes… umn, sure! One hour later.
9. Make two lists: your ideal day, and all the things that fill up your day (all your commitments).
   Get a moley or start with something plain and simple like teuxdeux – it does work, but with some people they have to commit to doing that too. Wink wink.
10. Spend a day in silence. Probably one of the most difficult things to do, but I promise you things happen when you turn it down. Try it, you might just like it.

Daily musts (for myself).

1. Set a limited reading time. When it comes to RSS feeds, set limits and do it at specified times. And the rest of the time? Read books, yeah the ones that you can hold in your hand and have pages – paper pages. Woah.
2. Write. You do not have to be a writer to be good at it. Write about your want to achieve or even how you feel. You will save money, but not having to go to a therapist anymore. Write down your dreams and if you want, you can doodle your dreams too. Note to self.
3. Both Leo and Thich, will tell you to breathe. It works. Now please make a plan to read that book.

Please note: I have quoted Leo a few times in this post. Read all his articles.

.more mnmlist | farbeyondthestars
.books the art of being minimalist | the power of less | the art of power

You know those days when you feel like whatever you have “accomplished” up until now, is the equivalent of one giant bucket filled with a whole lotta nothing? Yeah. That is me today.

I have been listening to the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack (wondering how I can escape to my own world), looking at men’s fashion and deciding what I will wear next winter.

Just so you know, it does not help – at all.

I used to be a go-getter. There was nothing I could not do and nothing I could not get. If I wanted it – it was mine.

A few minutes ago, I did my normal *click click* and ended up at NOTCOT. After another *click click* I somehow made my way to one of the first “me” posts. This is what I found:

You gotta start somewhere… you gotta start sometime… so why not start now?

This is the beginning of something. If only to stop being bored and having anyone around get annoyed with my restlessness, and perhaps even propel me out of this lull that I’ve rolled into. A little momentum is useful, and perhaps necessary.

Now what do you call that? Written for me? Yes, I think so – written for me and everyone else who feels the same way.

Time to rephrase: I used to be am a go-getter. There was is nothing I could cannot do and nothing I could cannot get. If I wanted want it – it was WILL be mine.

Word. Hollaaa! Now go get it.

.via notcot (02.28.05)

People often ask me what it is like to live alone as a “single” woman – or at least what the rest of the world considers as “single”. Well, Narry lives in a tiny, little apartment often referred to as “Narry’s Hole” or just “The Hole”. Like the nickname, “Narry”, “Narry’s Hole” caught on pretty quick and most people will use both terms on a daily basis.

What is it like being “single” and living alone? Awesome. No, I do not parade around wearing only what the good lawd gave me, but I can do anything I want and I can go out and come back any time of the day and night without explaining to anyone where I have been.  Worrying or thinking “oh no, he’s going to be home around 7, I should probably be there to help him with it”. Umn, I have no idea who “he” is and what this “it” is that I am apparently supposed to help him with, but you get the idea.

The other side of being “single” and living alone often means that you do not have someone to talk to at 3 in the morning, when you have the most random thoughts and NEED to share it with someone. I have a few close friends who I often text at that time – just because I know that they do not mind, and most likely have the similar random thoughts – around the same time. They understand.

Most of the time, when you do feel alone, you are not really as alone as you might think you are. Like tonight – I ran my bath and just when things got quiet, I heard the downstairs neighbor running her bath too. This is not the first time this happened and for some reason I find it a little odd. Having a bath with my neighbor – her bath is directly under mine – one floor down. After she ran her bath I heard a man’s voice and quickly realized that her boyfriend was the one who was taking the bath. Let’s rather not talk about that being odd.

All of a sudden he shouted from the bath, asking her to bring him a washcloth. After that I could hear every word and filled the role of the silent partner in this conversation. Partner, because I could hear the entire conversation. Silent, because I could not talk or comment. Maybe tomorrow night I will try to speak up.

Who will feel odd then?

Do not let anyone kill your dreams. They will never understand, let them be, do your thing and live your dream.

Lauri Faggioni, she does whatever she wants. Why? She does what she wants to do and she does what she loves. Which means? She loves what she does and obviously does not care what anyone else has to say. There are definitely people who might think she is a little coocoo, because she tends to do things a little different. Like that giant hairball. She has been collecting her own hair and the hairball grew rather large over the last few years. What does she do with it? She uses it just like any other material – may it be wool or felt – it is all the same. As long as you can use it to create something new, then why not. In Laura’s, Michel Gondry‘s and in MY world – it is okay to wear the telepathy helmet every now and then.

You might not understand where we are coming from, but it is okay – it is what makes us “us” and it is what makes you “you”.

Most of the time it is about who you know. That unfortunately comes with what do other people think of me? My opinion? Who cares, just do whatever you want to do. All the good things will follow. That does not mean that I believe in fairies.

I do believe that if you have a dream and you make it your mission in life to achieve that dream – that you will get there. Do not let the others tell you any different. There will always be that one person who tells you that it won’t work and that you should kill your dream, because it won’t work. Ignore the jealous and those who will never understand. They do not get it and they never will. Let them be. “God bless” them and move on. If you must, erase.

“Do what you do for a living, well. Do what you do for fun, smiling.” – legendsleague

There are a few people I look up to. Most are top business men and women. They make millions and they work extremely hard. They had a dream and a goal (still do) and nothing will get in their way – they have one mission and that is to get things done. The things they love. They are doing what they love and they have a passion for it.

Passion + Honesty = Success (again, my opinion).

I have a dream, I have a passion, I am honest and of course I will make a success of whatever I want to do. Regardless of what they might say or think. I am on a mission, as for the rest? Fuck em.

Do not let anyone get in your way. Yes, even that one person who you actually care about. Do not let them get to you – they do not understand and they never will. Do you know what? That is okay.

DO YOU.