I saved all the question entry forms you guys have submitted. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the responses. Especially the last few of them— like how you guys felt over the last year and a half, what your fears are, the questions you have for me, and more. It feels helpful for me to understand where people are at. I have a little folder on my mail app where they are all saved so I can refer back to them. And I’ve been wanting to do so to do some blog posts on the ideas you guys spoke on and the questions you had.

Well, a new one popped in this week—and given my current mood (less than optimal), I thought it would be the perfect post for me to put together. Yes, for you guys, but also a beneficial project for myself. You see, it’s been a super emotional month for all of us. And while I can certainly see the good around me (so much of it!) I feel like it’s been harder for me to focus on it. So here we are… a post you want to see next:

Top 10 things that make my (Drea’s) life fulfilling and make me happy.

1. Warm sunshine.

(Honestly just writing this down— you guys can probably guess what my top few things are). Ever have that moment when you’re sitting in the shade and the winds shift and a tree or cloud moves to reveal the sun? That feeling of the sun coming over your body to warm the skin is one of my favorite things in the world. Alex says that I’m a totally different person when I can feel the sun on me vs. when I can’t. Like, the world is new and full of possibilities with some sun on me. And the world is a dark, difficult place without it, haha. He’s madly exaggerating. But not completely wrong. I enjoy the sun so much. It feels like it’s giving me life. It IS giving me life. 

2. Tropical fruit.

I like non-tropical fruit too. Grapes and figs are cool and I love berries. But juicy, sweet tropical fruit? I love it so. A bowl of pineapple, coconut, papaya, mangosteens, mangoes (pre-allergies). Mmm. So much flavor. Truly the perfect food. Energy, proteins, fats in the perfect combination and wrapped in a delicious package. 

3. Nature sounds.

Whether we recognize it or not, we often live in a world of sounds. Cars going by, the fridge doing that weird thing it does, someone cutting a lawn, there are ten million sounds happening all the time. I’m really happy to say that I’m great at tuning out most sounds. People or neighbors complain about the dogs barking or the tree-trimming guys and I just decide to not hear it. But true nature sound? Birds singing, leaves rustling, bamboo swaying…. Its one of my favorite things. I find these sounds especially useful when I meditate outside. It helps me focus more when the birds are chirping with me. If you watched our recent Q+A you could hear the birds going behind us for sure 🙂 They’re always singing here!

4. Combine the top two and add the third.

One of my absolute favorite things is when I’m eating delicious tropical fruit outside in the sun. You know—- the way nature intended us to eat our food 😉 I don’t have to pick it directly from a tree— though that would be a huge bonus for sure. But I definitely don’t take my breakfast outside time for granted. Both Marlowe and Alex also make it a point to go sit outside for their fruit meals too. And we don’t have to be all together. Even Marlowe will just grab her bowl, a book, and head outside in the sun. (I don’t like that she focuses on reading and not her food— but that’s another topic). And if you can throw in some nature sounds? Boom. Extra wonderful. This will be the norm for us soon given that we won’t have an indoor space to eat 🙂 But also, time in nature, in general, is my favorite. 

5. Learning + dot-connecting.

One of my absolute favorite things is gaining new knowledge. It makes me super excited to learn something new each day. And even more so when it relates to something I’ve previously learned— and helps me solve some sort of puzzle. For instance, when I started putting my health puzzle pieces together and learned how one thing would correlate to the other. But it doesn’t just have to be with health or something that directly relates to my life. It can be anything. I really love taking in new info to learn. 

6. Exploring new places.

This is less true nowadays since I dislike dealing with the silliness of the last year and a half+, but I like exploring new places, because, just like learning new things, it triggers new synapses and ways of looking at things. I believe that breaking daily habits and trying new things is incredibly important for how our brain evolves— for how we evolve. I love walking down a new path, exploring a new city, visiting a new beach I haven’t before. I’m sad to say we’ve been less apt to do this since coming to Mexico. Yes, it’s partly due to the C-word, but also something about this area. It seems to drain all of us more than give us inspiration. I’ve heard other people say this too— so it’s good to know it isn’t just us. This town is incredibly wonderful for a lot of reasons, but it sort of pulls the creativity and sense of adventure out of us. I’m hoping this spark lights back up in us soon— because I really love new things. Even just a new walkway to the market in Santiago (the town across the bay from us) makes me happy. 

7. Alone time with Marlowe.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love our tripod family time. And I love the times when we go out with friends for activities. But the one-on-one alone time with Marlowe is one of my favorite things. We make a messy meal, watch a cheesy movie, an art project, dance party. It doesn’t ever have to be crazy, but I really enjoy the quiet alone time she and I share together. Living in the rainforest of Costa Rica with her was slow, but wonderful. It was so nice to have this time together. She’s been super busy lately— trying to spend as much time with her friends as she can before we leave here, but with Alex away so much this last month, we’ve both made it a point to schedule one on one chill time. It makes me happy that she enjoys it too 😉 

8. Alex in water.

This sounds silly— but this month I realized that one of the things that makes me happy is Alex in water. In the ocean, a lake, a pool, out of the shower, whatever, haha. I love that he just dives, without inhibitions, like a kid into a giant body of water. It looks like it brings him so much joy, and that brings me joy. Also, he looks pretty damn handsome with his hair wet and his curls lengthened from water weight. In general, it makes me happy to see him feeling carefree and at his best. It took him years to let go of his own mental weight— and it’s just so nice to see him chill and with a smile on his face. The smile is the prize, the water is just a bonus. (Water-free desert Alex is pretty good too tho). (My favorite Alex water photo).

9. Breathwork/meditation.

There’s a love/hate relationship here. It’s like a workout— it can take a lot of effort to muster the energy to get your butt in gear for the practice. And it can be a really painful or tedious feeling when you’re in it. But my god, it really helps with overall mood and feeling once it’s done. Especially the breathwork— or when I do my breathwork practice and follow it by a short meditation. Admittedly, I want to moan and complain before I start, but I’m always so much better once it’s done. Check out this post on my favorite free meditation apps

10. Watching Marlowe grow up.

My number one joy in life is that I’m still alive to enjoy the simple parts of life. Watching her gain another inch or change her appearance, yes. But more than that, I love watching her develop and emotionally grow. Each day she’s smarter, kinder, and better than before and it makes me so happy to see her advancing each day into a self-sufficient and really caring human. I don’t take my health and life for granted. I hope I can wake up every day and experience this sweet and short life. I want to live a long, long time— ideally good health. I want to see her grow older and watch her take off to explore the world her own. I cant wait to see the life she creates for herself. And I’m so grateful that every day I can see a little bit (or a lot of bits) of her growth process. 

There’s more for sure. Feeling accomplished after tackling a to-do list, making art, a good book, people sending me notes that I’ve helped their own journey in some way, a super clean and relaxed feeling at home. So many little things. I could go on and on 🙂 I do think this practice can be incredibly beneficial daily or often. I hope to implement it as part of Marlowe’s future homeschool routine.  

But alright! I’m going to do some breathwork, prepare a meal, and head to a cafe to post this. Our wifi is out (no one is surprised), but maybe this time for good until we leave? We have no idea. I promise to keep trying to post as often as I can. I want to look back through other question forms and see the topics suggested. Like I said, I’ve been meaning to do this— and then this one popped up last week and I thought, “yep, that’s the one!”

Today I’m going to enjoy nature sounds, tropical fruit, sunshine, alone time with M—and I guess that breathwork thing too 😉 Whatever it is that brings you joy, I hope you can do a few of those things today. It’s a great life hack for better living. One of the top things people have done to heal their cancer even. Thanks for being here! 

ps. Also—I want you guys to know that then I post a question/answer form below on the post, it’s always confidential. I think you guys know that— but I wanted to mention it just in case. Your name, info, nothing pops up unless you decide to add it in there and share it with me. It’s just a private way of adding to the conversation. Alternately, if you post in the comment section, that does pop up publicly. Neither is mandatory 🙂 It’s just if you want to add your input, thoughts, or questions. Thanks! Hope you guys are well in the world <3

 

Comments are closed.