So it starts out as simple as this: when you have lemons, make lemonade. When it rains, jump in the puddles. When you're stuck on a plane for five hours, share your pretzels.
The good life that we seek is right in front of us most of the time. The problem? We get in our own way...and make it difficult to see at times the simple things that are more enjoyable than we could have imagined.
I credit a few inspirations to starting this blog and what will become an experiment in living differently than I have ever done before.
One inspiration is a friend who shared with me recently that she was living a fabulous life. Curious as to what that could entail, I probed, "What do you mean by that?"...Her answer - "I induldge in what's available to me, like standing at the freezer in my pajamas in the middle of the afternoon and eating chocolate icecream straight from the container." So it wasn't her burgeoning career or her real estate holdings? Was it fabulous because of the pajamas or the ice cream? Or both? Either way, I liked how it rolled off her tongue and floated in the air a while and all I thought was..."I want some of that fabulousness too."
The other inspiration comes from a myriad of amazing college students I teach right now in a counseling skills course. Here I am at the front of the room describing what the pursuit of happiness looks like or the quest for contentment or the "finding yourself" lecture; yet it is through their personal reflections they have shared where I have found in fact discovered MY OWN definition of seeking and living a good life. Thank you guys!
And then last night, as I wrote a detailed email to my dearest penpal Mindy, I got lost in an adventurous description of my evenings spent cooking delicious meals that cost less than $5 to prepare. My fabulous life was unfolding in front of me and for 5 and under!
I translated this formula into other areas of my life and realized that long gone were my expensive tastes, my unrealistic expenditures on frivilous nothings; gone was my infatuation in the "new and improved" thing. Rather, my current holdings and interests resemble more of a thrift shop gone wild, a bohemian boutique of other people's forgottens that have become my treasures.
I recognized in myself that I have been "treasuring" items that are - for lack of a better word - used and abused until I breath new life into them with a creative twist or good intention.
Wow.. Am I thrifty? I had never associated this word in my personal vocabulary before. I had to try it on...see if it fit...and guess what, it did; but I prefer the hybrid term that I have designed CRIFTIVE....a mix of crafty and thifty and creative. I love to make up my own words.
And so begins the experiment... My attempt to embrace what I already have, make it better, use what exists, change that which I can and accept what I can not. So this will translate into all pockets, closets, and cabinets of my life in the coming months as I embark on a $5 and under quest to integrate snippets of fabulousness into a life I share with my best friend and life partner. He is excited for this experiment because it involves me cooking - a lot - and saving money!
Join me daily as I post recipes for living well - including delicious and easy to prepare meals, wellness tips, design thoughts, crafts, music, entertainment ideas, date night suggestions, love advice, and other $5 and under ideas for attainable fabulousness.
Here's to the Good Life.
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