Blog – Page 3 – Holistic Living

DOING SUMMER SIMPLY

family, keep it simple, live with intention

Summer. A time to focus on the family. Although, if we're being honest...all year long is the time to focus on the family.Yet. Summer has a special place in our hearts - we've all anticipated the freedom of those long summer days, sprinklers + splash pads, watermelon + popsicles, picnics + barbeques, camping + late nights...Summer can be insanely wonderful + create all sorts of the best memories. + it can also be stressful, chaotic, + way too busy. + often, a little lot of both. get your simple summer ebook here Over the years, I've learned how to do summer really simply. + mostly due to the fact that we've had my step-daughter come to stay with us for longer stretches of time. Now that she's older, + things…

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SIMPLIFY

be the change, gratitude, grow heal love, keep it simple, live with intention, live your purpose

Simplifying starts with gratitude, because when you are grateful for what you do have instead of wanting what you don’t, you stop striving for what isn’t in your life – the grass gets ever-green on your side of the fence. Satisfaction, contentment comes from within. It allows you to shed that what doesn’t fill you up in order to have space to focus on that what is your truth. Simplifying your life makes space for all the good things you’re looking for when you fill it with clutter. So let’s make it simple. stop buying things you don’t need. stop committing to things you don’t truly want to do. stop filling your hours on smart-i-tech-commercial-filled-product-placed-why-are-you-doing-this-to-your-life unnecessary filler. When you simplify your life, you find out more of who you really are.…

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A SIMPLE GIFT

family

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2016 ON focusonsimple.co [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-MBfn8XjIU&autoplay=1] Truth be told, I've already had my Mother's Day gift. My beautiful moment, holding my child, forehead to forehead, rocking back + forth to a beautiful song. A song typically meant as a romantic love song, but the gist being you need to love like you might not get the chance to in any given future moment. So the song was playing + my precious, gorgeous, fine curly headed child snuggled in my arms. + I'd dip him + his golden curls would fall upside down. + he'd laugh + giggle. + I'd pull him up + hold him tight + he'd say 'again'. So I would. Again + again. Because one day I won't be able to. There are moms who…

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our PERIODS.

environment, feminism, grow heal love, keep it simple

Ladies! Let's talk about our periods! Who likes getting their period? Nobody I know. They're messy. Definitely. Uncomfortable. Also definitely.Natural? Totally. Gross? Let's end that. My husband is uncomfortable with the topic. But I don't want my son to be with his future partner, if that's where his future lies...in any relationship with women. I want him to be understanding + empathetic. Not uncomfortable + grossed out. As women we dim our power + the beauty of our ability to hold life at our core. + a menstrual cycle is totally part of this. Now. I know some women have incredibly hard periods. Painful. Hormonal. Excruciating. Pre-baby, if I didn't take extra-strength Advil as soon as I started bleeding I was curled up in the fetal position + nothing would…

by Mackenzie 2 Comments

IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOU FINISH

be the change, live your purpose

I don't know about you, but I'm great at starting things. I could start new things all the time. Each idea comes in like a brilliant flash of inspiration + I feel compelled to drop everything + jump on it. I've done this often. But bringing these ideas to completion? That's a different story. It's easy to start something. Starting something doesn't require a whole lot of focus or discipline or motivation. That initial rush of a “ohmygod, I have the best idea” is enough to dive into something shiny + exciting + new. Sticking with something though, seeing it through, that takes a gritty doggedness that's harder to cultivate. But not impossible. One of the biggest lessons I've learned (am continually learning) is that it doesn't matter how you…

by Mackenzie 2 Comments

SO…HOW DO YOU THINK THAT WENT?

be the change, live with intention, live your purpose

I imagine that when we leave this life and we move on to what's next, we will have the opportunity to 'sit down' + have a conversation - a debrief, if you will - with our great creator. I imagine it will go something like this... "So. How do you think that went? What did you do with the precious, precious gift you were given?" ... My parents taught me that when you're a guest in someone's house you don't leave a mess behind to be cleaned up. You don't even just clean up after yourself. When you leave, you've made your guests home or lives better. You've made their life easier. When my time on this earth has ended, I want to be able to say, with confidence, "I made the…

by Mackenzie 2 Comments

3 LIFE GOALS WORTH WORKING ON

family, grow heal love, keep it simple

A bit o' truth from this little journey of ours. I've discussed before about some of the challenges our family has dealt with over the past year (plus). There has been no 180degree turn. but I'm climbing steadily to a place of peace, positivity, acceptance, growth. This is how it's happened : No light bulb, no switch flip, no lightning bolt of revelation. A slow, steady, uncomfortable, sometimes unbearable, stumbling crawl in a progressively upwards direction. There have been times that have seemed light + beautiful. + times when I've wanted to just scream, give up, + slide back down to start again. Two steps forward, one step back, repeat, sometimes three steps forward, no steps back. It's a big learning curve for me. Learning to heal, learning to grow together,…

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ONE YEAR OF SIMPLE BEAUTY

be the change, environment, keep it simple

Part of living simply is cleaning up the crap that's going in + on my body. Some of the choices we are making include: buying organic +/or local as much as possible;paying attention to labels;cleaning with a vinegar/water mix + using old cotton clothes as rags. On Christmas Day 2014 I made the decision to stop using shampoo. The catalyst for this decision was that my hair would start to get really oily within a half-day of having washed it. It is really frustrating to feel that you're getting gross on the same day that you've washed. Over cleaning stimulates an excessive amount of oil because one's body is trying to compensate for the fact that all its natural oils have been stripped away. So I quit shampoo cold turkey. Thank…

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CREATING A LIFE OF MEANING THROUGH LIVING SIMPLY

grow heal love, keep it simple, live with intention, live your purpose

There's so much to be said for living a simple, minimal, filtered life (links to related posts below). + all of it boils down to how we want to look back at our life when we're getting ready for the next great adventure. Loving connection provides the dependable web of intimacy that allows us to cope with life + to live life well. + that is what gives our life its meaning. For most of us, on our deathbeds, it is the quality of our connection with our precious ones that will matter most.Dr Sue Johnson We've been reading Hold Me Tight by Dr Sue Johnson as part of a communication class my husband + I are taking part in. It is a great book. I highly recommend it for any relationships…

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MAKING TIME FOR WHAT MATTERS MOST

live with intention

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2016 ON focusonsimple.co I recently saw the quote "'I don't have time' means it's not important to you." This was a wake up call for me. I work full time, + am trying to make my side gig my real gig. I have a toddler + husband. Other family + friends. + they're all important to me. However. Most/all of my 'free time' is spent on the side gig, so it can someday be my real gig + then I won't have to do the 'day job'. I keep thinking, 'that's when I'll have time for the things i don't have time for now'. For the most part, that's been time for friends + time for health. + my friends are beautiful + amazing + they deserve better.…