Present and Connected

Recently I picked up my new glasses and it’s funny how I see life differently than before. It’s actually just new frames, the glasses themselves have stayed the same. It’s funny because I clearly see how this life is framed. I clearly see Who framed Roger Rabbit and that Jessica was a booby trap. Yeah, I clearly see that now. (By the way, strange word, eh? Booby Trap. Jessica Rabbit sure embodied that one.) So I look around with my new framed glasses and I see all the booby traps this life of superficiality has to offer. Climbing up that ladder, that TRAP, to go to “better” and “higher” places. It’s a con - which is a trap in reverse. You see that ladder and you trap yourself thinking I need to climb up there and when you’re there you are convincing yourself that this is what you wanted. Other people are convincing you that this is what you should want in life. While your spirit knows, it’s been a trap and a con all along and it’s quietly, sometimes, desperately trying to tell ...

At the end of last month I got a text from my oldest sister "Dad asked me to tell you, he wants to see all his children as soon as possible, because his health is getting worse. He has some things he wanted to discuss." I haven't  seen my dad in a good three, almost four years. Ever since he chose not to attend my wedding day (not without an excuse, he's always good at giving those) Up until that moment I gave him every opportunity to be willing participant in my life as a father, but when he didn't show up on that day, something within me hardened and I had set a firm boundary. If he wanted to see me, he had to make the effort as I wasn't going to visit him anymore. My dad's health has been getting worse from this year on, his heart condition had gotten worse. One of his heart valves is not working properly anymore and with the bypass he had, the medicine he is taking for it, well let's say, it's not getting any easier for him. The doctors sa...

When I leave my home I always try to bring a notebook and a fountain pen (or two) with me. I've had my midori travel's journal for work appointments and day to day planning, a little notebook here and there for when a random inspiration hits me and need to write it down, I have a notebook at my PC at home for making notes during podcasts I listen to, a gratitude journal and a quote journal... on a random day, this would be what my desk looks like, a multitude of notebooks on my desk going on at once. The looks of it can be quite over-whelming to the outsider, but I have my own system I am working with and suited me fine. But then I wanted to look up something I knew I had written down somewhere, but I couldn't find it. All these loose journals were serving me well as brain dumps, but it wasn't providing the structure I needed when I wanted to follow up on things. I was looking into Bullet Journaling  some years ago but decided that that was a "difficult structure ...

Today I am sharing a personal story in correlation to cultivating gratitude and how that can open new possibilities in your every day life. Yesterday I had a craving for Risotto and went out with my husband to Den Haag to eat at the place I really wanted to eat. Sadly the restaurant was so crowded and a due to a technical malfunction only cash payments were accepted. Who carries cash with them these days?! Anyhow, a bit of a disappointment there, but then my husband, the darling he is, google searched for Risotto and Italian meals. We ended up in this beautiful little restaurant, (which was a 30 minute walk from where we were at the time and I experienced Hangry symptoms all the way, my poor husband can attest to as I asked 'are we there yet?!' like a 4 yo toddler every 4 minutes), which had a gorgeous turquoise canopy (yes, turquoise is my fave color, not sure if you noticed ) and thought "hmm, maybe this day won't suck after all.." and oh, what a wonderful...

"Don't judge your insides by other people's outsides." Something Carrie-Anne Moss said in her interview with Lewis Howes in The School of Greatness podcast (another high recommendation!) last year about Living Mindfully. How often do we feel our self-worth diminishing by believing the grass is greener on the bigger lawn? I am trying to be mindful of the fact whenever I feel emotions that diminish my self-worth by comparing myself to others and this powerful quote is a good mantra for that. Also the only person you need to compare yourself to, is the one you were yesterday. Keep on, keeping up💖🙏💕 #livingmindfully #annapurnaliving #fiercegrace #presentandconnected #handwritten #handwriting #thehandwrittenword #rockyourhandwriting #mindfulmusings A post shared by Cheetarah (@present_and_connected) on Aug 5, 2017 at 12:42pm PDT We all know Carrie-Ann Moss from her stunning performance of Trinity in the Matrix trilogy . And I was pleasantly surprised to...