I mean, really happy.

When you stop to think about it, it’s really quite hard to define happiness, or quantify what happiness looks like – there are so many ways of being happy. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that there are as many ways of being happy as there are people on this planet. That’s what makes each and every one of us special and unique.

Most people I talk to, however, would love to be happier.

Do you think about how happy you are?

It seems to me that often we only think about happiness when we’re not.  When we’re sad, anxious, worried, hassled, frustrated or simply feelin’ a little blue… that’s when happiness (the absence) enters our thoughts. When we are happy, humming a little tune to ourselves as we go about our day, a spring in our step and a smile lingering around the corners of our mouth – then, we don’t think about it. Do we?

If you want to be happy, be.

~Leo Tolstoy

So we’ve decided Happiness is a wonderful thing to be discussing here this month. There’s already a veritable treasure trove of goodies from our writers and contributors, stacked in the cupboard, waiting to be revealed. I’m bursting at the seams to share it all with you! I’ll let you in on a secret – we have a new space launching this month, with a precious writer you’re sure to recognise if you’ve visited here in the last couple of months. She’ll be along in the middle of the month… so do watch this space!

On a personal note, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who wrote, messaged, emailed, tweeted and generally sent their prayers and love to me in the last month. Losing my Mother, Diana, was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through, and your support and prayers meant so very, very much. Please add my Father, Bill, to your prayer list as he mourns the loss of the love of his life.

I do feel that one day soon I’ll share a little more of the lessons and love I’ve received – it has definitely been a time of incredible sadness, but also a time of great learning about life, strength, love and the power of family.

Without further ado…

This week at The Calm Space

At Breathing Space – Take a deep breath of happiness… and don’t forget to download this stunning photo as your desktop wallpaper for the month! It’s guaranteed to lift your mood and bring on a smile.

At Organising Space – Happiness Is… by Angela Esnouf. The moments that make her feel grateful along with tips to help you increase your happiness.

At Guest Space – The Pursuit of Happiness by returning guest Carla Cummins Thomas. Read why Carla is giving up on happiness…

Photo Source: Orange County Fun by Rowdy Kittens

Wonder.

• The feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
• Something that causes feelings of wonder
• A state in which you want to learn more about something
• Have a wish or desire to know something
• Place in doubt or express doubtful speculation
• Be amazed at

What a treasure trove of feelings for one single word! We feel a little like we’ve opened Pandora’s Box this month, as we explore the theme of Wonder here at The Calm Space.

Dear, dear!  How queer everything is to-day!  And yesterday things went on just as usual.  I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night?  Let me think:  was I the same when I got up this morning?  I almost think I can remember feeling a little different.  But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I?  Ah,that’s the great puzzle!

~Lewis Carroll

I hope that you will find questions to spark your imagination, stories to brighten your day, and thoughts to put a smile on your face here this month.

Without further ado:

This week

Breathing Space – a splash of brilliant yellow to brighten your desktop all month long! Take a moment to breathe…

Organising Space – Angela again exerts her magical, mystical powers to keep us organised and in control in Power and Magic

Guest Space – we welcome Carla Cummins Thomas (aka Chania Girl) with her very first guest post for us – Through the Eyes of Wonder

I don’t know anyone who actually asks that question in general conversation, but have seen it plenty of times in books and on blogs. And I never fail to feel a little out of my depth. In fact, it scares the pants off me.

Even if I do have a good feel for what I’m doing with my life, the image of this over-riding, immense thing called ‘purpose’ hanging in front of me like a rainbow (always just out of reach) can throw me completely in a tizz.

So, this month we’re going to bring that rainbow down to earth a little and start making that illusive ‘purpose‘ a little more tangible, and hopefully a lot less frightening.

Join Us?

We’d like to wish every Mother, or mother-figure, a beautiful Mother’s Day … and may you feel special the whole year through!

This week:

At Feng Shui Space – we welcome Linda Binns as a regular contributor with her own space, with How Your Home can Help You Discover Your Purpose

At Memoir Space – Bo encourages and inspires us with Why Write Memoir? – There is Purpose in Your Words

At Design Space - Vitania once again combines pictures of beautiful interiors (I want that bed!) with her unique wisdom with For the Love of Hard Work

At Spa Space – I continue our new series on How to Calm Yourself when the Going Gets Tough #2: Defer Your Worries

At Guest Space – Stacey Curnow once again shares her journey to doing the work her heart calls her to do with On Purpose

Week 2:

At Living Space - Anne enthralls and challenges us with Shaking Off the Zombie

At Spiritual Space – Annie makes us consider the purpose of our lives in a spiritual context in Spiritual Purpose

At Kitchen Table Space – Janice beautifully encourages us to see that we are the gift in Birdsong

At Guest Space – we welcome Stephanie Crawford who joins us with a touching article on Finding My Purpose and Direction

Week 1:

At Organising Space – Angela looks at Fit for Purpose – sharing her innate organising wisdom once again

At Breathing Space - we’ve a beautiful wallpaper for you to download, with the most glorious photo from Bo Mackison (couldn’t resist this image for Mother’s Day!) Breathe Deeply…

At Guest Space – we welcome back Joanne Keevers who shares a pivotal moment with Monte Carlo… or Me?

What do you do when your well is dry?

How do you replenish your store of good ideas, your creativity, your inspiration, your decision-making power?

We all have those moments where the lightbulb just stays dark, no matter what we do. And in those moments it helps to have some tried and true methods of contacting our muse, putting aside our fear, worry, pain or anxiety, and reconnecting with sources of inspiration.

Whether you seek inspiration from a higher source, or ideas to improve your relationship. Whether you seek to record those fleeting stories and memories that make up your life or just want to find the enthusiasm to get the filing done. Whether you need a reminder to breathe as you move through April, or whether it’s a source of beautiful music to touch your soul in new places or stir forgotten memories.

Whether it’s a touch of serenity or a moment or two breathing in all Mother Nature has to offer in any moment… we have it here for you this month (and more besides)!

Our theme for April is

INSPIRE!

We do hope you’ll be inspired

Join Us?

Week 5!!:

At Design Space – If you love beauty, nature, art, fashion or design, don’t miss Vitania’s Design Inspiration from the Things You Love!

Week 4:

At Sound Space – Dee shares some very personal moments as she listens to music to lift your soul in How to Get You on Your Feet & Dancing when You’re Feeling Stuck

At Kitchen Table Space – Janice once again charms us with her ability to find extraordinary beauty out of despair in The Jug – Loving Ourselves Enough

At Guest Space – we welcome a wonderful new guest writer – Artist Patricia van Essche! Please make her feel welcome at Noticing the Gifts of Inspiration that Surround You

Week 3:

At Spa Space – I start a new series, getting back to why The Calm Space exists with How to Calm Yourself When the Going Gets Tough: #1 Choose Your Calm Place

At Guest Space – Stacey shares a beautiful story of how she broke through procrastination and fear to realise her dream in The Road to Ravenna: How to Find Inspiration by Looking for It

Week 2:

At Guest Space – we welcome back our Feng Shui Success Strategist Linda with Let Your Home Bring Inspiration (this article inspired my declutter efforts over Easter – come on down, helpful people!)

At Spiritual Space – Annie shares the people who have been a source of inspiration and joy in her life in Spiritual Inspiration

At Memoir Space - the third inspiring article on writing memoir from Bo – Make a Photo Keepsake Booklet for Your Memoir Project (I’m inspired!)

At Living Space - Ann shares her personal journey to singing her song, loud and clear (and we’re so glad she listened to that muse – we’re so uplifted by her writing!) in Inspire Yourself

Week 1:

At Serenity Space – I share The Secret to Finding Inspiration – How to Connect with Your Muse When the Well Is Dry

At Organising Space – Our organiser-extraordinaire Angela Esnouf explains how Changing It Up can get the filing done and so much more!

At Breathing Space – Take a moment to breathe deeply as you take in the beautiful Wailea Beach, South Maui sunset by my good friend, Rosa Say – and don’t forget to download your choice of wallpaper to grace your desktop all month long (use it as a reminder to breathe and soak in the inspiration of a spectacular sunset every time you’re on your computer)

At Guest Space – we welcome the very special Joanne Keevers, with her first guest article for us, Being There, For You. Please make Joanne VERY welcome!

I’m already hearing murmurings from my northern friends that the first signs of spring are in the air. Here in Brisbane, even though today may officially be the first day of Autumn, there’s no hint of the dry winter to come… we woke up to a wet, green world again today.

In the middle of the heat and humidity, I often wonder what it would be like to be in snow right about now. And one day, that’ll happen. I’ll get to live the dream I’ve held dear for ever so long… to spend Christmas in Scotland in a castle with all my family around me. Woolly jumpers, mulled wine, roaring fires… it all sounds so romantic, doesn’t it?

I think I got a little off track there, I’m meant to be introducing you to our theme for March… the theme is Journey. And I guess thinking about Journeys often takes my mind off to Scotland – there is something about the land of my ancestors that’s calling to me to come home for another visit. What about you? Is there a journey you’d like to take? A trip on the Ghan perhaps, dissecting Australia? Or sailing the Greek Isles? Trains and boats and planes… definitely the type of travel that springs to mind when I contemplate ‘journey’.

But as our contributors will show this month, there are many more ways to look at journeys… come, I’ve kicked my heels together three times and the door is open to a magical world here at The Calm Space… come on a journey with us!

This Week

At Breathing Space – it’s time to take a deep, deep breath and find yourself somewhere on the coast of Scotland with Amy Palko’s beautiful photo… and the words of Rumi to entice you further. Do download our desktop wallpaper for March while you’re there!

At Organising Space – Angela’s encouraging you to pop on your ruby slippers and Skip Down the Road to Organised!

At Serenity Space – I’m sharing Thirteen Discoveries I’ve made on the Journey of Life (so far)…

Coming Up Later This Month

New Guests, more Memoir Writing, and, next week, our regular Spiritual Space with Annie and Living Space with Anne…

Photo Credit: Over the Top by Amy Palko

Lucky for me, I am living a life I enjoy. I get to do what I love, I am able to work from home so I can be around to give my kids a hug as they walk out the door to go catch their bus each morning, and I get to be here when they walk in the door, hot and happy in the afternoon. I cherish my life now so much because it wasn’t always this way. I’ve done the childcare torment and worked in a high-rise office in the middle of the city. I’ve got on planes and left my children at home, along with my heart.

And I am ever so grateful for the opportunity to serve you, instead of a boss. To serve you, someone who cares. And yes, I do love that I no longer have to put on a pair of stockings and heels to go to work (just call me a barefoot coach: ).

So, February being the month our attention turn to love (and the shops drag out those ghastly red satin hearts and boxes of chocolates), we thought the theme of Cherish might fit the bill. We’re not going to go into Valentines Day fluff (in fact, I doubt we’ll mention it at all from now on). We’re not going to put up pictures of frilly bits of lace and ribbon (well, not the lingerie type, anyway); we’re not going to talk about 20 ways to seduce your man; and we’re definitely not going anywhere near a dozen red roses!

Not that there is anything wrong with flowers, I’ve a beautiful pot of flowers here on my desk – a gift from my dear husband for our wedding anniversary last week. I just think there is a time and a place, and Valentine’s Day isn’t it (for one thing, the price triples!) I don’t want to be given flowers because Hallmark tells someone to. I want to be given flowers because the giver genuinely wants to give them to me.

Hmm… ok, I’ll get off my little soapbox here and introduce our line-up for the month.

This Week:

At Spiritual Space – Spiritual Cherishing by Annie Hutton

At Nature Space – Green Fingers: A Cherished Garden by Amy Palko

At Spa Space – The Gift of Aromatherapy and a Mother’s Love by Káren Wallace

Last Week:

At Challenge Space – Cherish You! challenge for Feb 2010

At Guest Space – Three Simple Steps to Writing the Ultimate Love Letter by Stacey Curnow

At Living Space – Learning from Loss by Anne Maybus

Week One:

At Serenity Space – The supreme act of generosity: Listen! by Káren Wallace

At Organising Space – How to Cherish the Memories without Holding onto the Stuff by Angela Esnouf

At Breathing Space – A Special Treat! Not only the chance to Breathe… we have not one but two delectable desktop wallpapers for you to chose from. And a BIG question for you – do you want a calendar on your wallpaper or not? Please pop on over and leave a quick comment with your response. We’ll listen, promise!

Next Week:

Relationship Space with Chris Owen, Sound Space with Dee Le Blang, a brand new space, and so much more!

PS Have you signed up for A Month of Me Time yet? We’re getting rave reviews from those who have enjoyed the daily email with a small reminder to take time for the most important person in the world – you! Just enter your name and email address over there on the right. Then look out for an email asking you to confirm your subscription. It’s that simple!

I’d like to wish you a most happy New Year. I believe, with all my heart, that 2010 is going to be a miraculous year, with many of us taking some of those countless possibilities and turning them into an amazing reality.

What do you feel as you turn the page to 2010?

Now we’ve said goodbye to 2009 (you did say goodbye, didn’t you?) it’s time to look ahead.

Is 2010 a beautifully bound book, filled with deliciously creamy blank pages, just waiting for your pen or brush or camera?

Or do you look at the year ahead and already see a sea of obligations, expectations and stuff waiting to get done?

I’d like to invite you to take another look at your year. A year of possibility, a year of opportunity, a year to grow and flourish.

This month our theme is Possibility, and we’re hoping you’ll take a moment to sit with us and discover what your possibilities are. Each week during January, our contributors will offer you insights, hints, tips and motivation to make this year truly one of endless opportunity!

This Week:

At Relationship Space – Chris challenges us with Better Relationships – A Treasure Trove of Possibility

At Sound Space – Dee inspires us with Noticing Beauty in the Ordinary Moments: Luke Vassella

At Nature Space – Amy entices us with A Simple Way to Find Understanding, Peace and Wisdom

At Kitchen Table Space – Janice entrances us with Shaking Off the Shoulds

Week 3:

At Design Space – Vitania shares her indulgence in The Bathroom Retreat

At Spiritual Space – Annie bring us her wisdom in Spiritual Possibility

At Guest Space – we welcome the sunny and ever smiling Stacey Curnow with From Clutter… to Possibility

Week 2:

At Living Space – Anne charms us with Natural Magic

At Writing Space - a very special treat! A short story by Emma Newman – The Need to Create

At Spa Space – Five quick ways to give your mood a boost

Week 1:

At Serenity Space – I bring you Which of these will you bring with you into 2010?

At Organising Space – Angela with The ‘Top 5 Way’ to New Intentions

At Breathing Space – a reminder to breathe… featuring Amy Palko’s stunning photography and a free desktop wallpaper for you to download and enjoy all month long!

Coming Next Week:

We welcome in February with Cherish…

Wow! December is here! Another year end approaches at the speed of light, and as the weather heats up here, and cools down for our northern friends, our thoughts turn to celebrations and the passing of time.

Our chosen theme for December is Ceremony. A little different from the usual, and boy, have our contributors stepped up their wisdom and generosity this month! Besides their usual ’space’, each of our contributors is sharing an insight into their personal Christmas and year end festivities! We’ll showcase a couple each week throughout December, and we’d love you to join in the fun too!

I’ve been thinking about Ceremony and Tradition, Endings and Beginnings a lot the last few weeks, as the reality of imminent December hit me. At first, I started to panic because I felt way behind. In years past, I would always aim to have my gift shopping completed before December 1st. This year, I got to the last week in November and I’d barely made my list. I got that tight chested feeling, an ‘oh no’ of alarming proportions.

And then I recognised the panic and stopped to work out why I felt that way. I had this goal, set in my mind, that the list must be made and the gifts must be bought before that date. When I dug a little deeper, the reason I’d had this goal in past years was because I had young children and once school holidays commenced I wasn’t free to shop without them (and I really don’t cope well in crowded shopping centres). My youngest is now eleven, and he’s fine to leave at home with an older sibling if I need to go to the shops. And these days, I do a lot of my shopping online and have it delivered to my door, so those crowded shopping centres can mostly be avoided. Wow. Panic subsided, I was able to sit down with my notebook and knock out a list or two with ease.

What is it about the “way we’ve always done it” that keeps us doing it long after the reason expires?

I heard a story of a woman who each year cut the end off the Christmas ham before she popped it into the oven to cook. When her daughter asked her why, she didn’t know. That’s the way her Mother always does it. So Grandma was asked, and her response was the same – “that’s the way my Mother always did it”. A call to great-grandma, who laughed and replied “I did that because the ham was too big to fit in my baking dish!” (If you know the source of the story, please let me know – this is my remembered version of it).

Are you doing stuff at this time of year because that’s the way it’s always been done? That’s fine as long as it is still working for you. But if it’s become something you dislike doing, or even dread, something that causes that feeling of panic and wakes you up at night, now is the time to start questioning why.

Ceremonies are there to enhance our lives, add that meaning and sense of tradition. If it’s no longer a joy, then by all means swap it out for something that brings a smile to your face! You deserve it.

This year, my family are swapping out the Christmas Lunch tradition for a Christmas Eve dinner when the sun has set and the air cooled a little. The food will still be cold, the drinks colder still, and we’ll chill with candles and fairy lights and enjoy the evening with both our families together on our back veranda – everyone contributing to the meal in their own way – 20 of us in all!

And now, without further ado, let me introduce you to the goodness within The Calm Space this month!

This Week:

At Serenity Space –  I share 5 Ways Rituals Add Magic to Your Life

At Nature Space – Amy Palko with Ceremonial Nature

At Design Space – Vitania M Liscio with A Christmas Dinner to Remember

At Wisdom Space – three more contributors to The Calm Space are Sharing MORE of Our Holiday Magic!

Last Week:

At Wisdom Space – two more contributors to The Calm Space are Sharing Our Holiday Magic

At Living Space – Anne Maybus with Ceremony of the Brandy Cream Sauce

At Kitchen Table Space – Janice Hunter with And the Angels Sang

At Spa Space – I share Foot Bath Bliss for the Festive Season

Week One:

At Organising Space – Angela Esnouf with Five Ways to Reduce Stress and Make Celebrating a Joy

At Spiritual Space – Annie Hutton with Add a Little Bit of Magic to your Christmas

At Wisdom Space – Oh What Fun: Sharing Our End of Year Magic! The Calm Space Writers tell you about their celebrations and ceremonies! This week – Dee and Anne.

At Breathing Space – A reminder to Breathe… featuring the unique photography of Amy Palko!

The fun will continue throughout December. Each week we’ll feature more of our writer’s celebrations and ceremonies at Wisdom Space, and next week we’ll have Relationship Space with Chris Owen and Sound Space with Dee Le Blang and more…

Until then, be safe, be kind and above all, be joyful!

From our hearts to yours, Merry, Merry Christmas!

Káren xx

Photo credit: Clara’s Chinese Charm by Rosa Say

We’re going weekly! You’ll notice that there are only a handful of Spaces up. This is deliberate. After a lot of feedback from our readers (thank you!) I made the decision to go to a weekly format – spreading our articles through the month, rather than all in one big lump at the beginning.

We’re still bringing you a theme every month – and all articles will be based around the theme. For November, we’re bringing you Planning and Renewal, and let me tell you – there are some real gems lined up for you throughout the month!

The final, and kinda sad, change is that we are no long offering a Monthly Prize Draw. When I looked at the work that went in, and the number of unanswered emails and unclaimed prizes (shocking, I know), it was time to let it go. So instead, we’re giving away the very special A Month of Me Time. Simple Daily Actions to Nourish Your Soul. Together with a complimentary subscription to the weekly Calm Notes. Simply enter your first name and email address over there on the right – no strings attached and you can unsubscribe at any time.

I’ve noticed so many people are saying things like “November already? How did that happen?” and “53 days to Christmas – aagghh…” and of course the classic “where did the year go?” And it does often feel like life just whizzes past in front of us while we stand there with our mouths open, stunned. I am so over that feeling!

I want to enjoy every single minute of the next two months before the new decade is upon us. And this requires Planning with a capital P. Planning to enjoy, Planning to notice. Planning to not sit on the sidelines any longer. Want to join me?

Whilst planning to enjoy, I’m going to need energy reserves and boundless enthusiasm. And the only way I know get them is to take care of myself, watch my priorities like a hawk and ensure I renew my spirit, my body and my mind regularly.

And so that brings me to our theme this month, Planning & Renewal.

This week:

At Relationship Space – Planning Some Christmas Calm

At Design Space – Keeping it Simple for the Holidays

Week 3:

At Sound Space – Celtic Inspiration for a Milestone Birthday and Beyond

At Serenity Space – Add Fresh Life and Strength this Holiday Season

Week 2:

At Living Space – Loss and Renewal. A Tale in Haiku.

At Spiritual Space – Spiritual Renewal

At Spa Space – A Recipe for Stress Relief

Week 1:

At Organising Space – Plan B

At Kitchen Table Space – The Christmas Book

At Breathing Space – some elbow room for your soul and don’t forget to download your November desktop wallpaper to grace your computer all month long.

Stay tuned for more goodness next Tuesday 1st December with our new theme!

As always, I love to hear from you – please either leave a comment below, or email me personally. I do so like feedback.

Wishing you a month filled with delicious moments, and plenty of Me Time to boost your energy ready for the festive season!

Káren x

It’s Our Birthday! The Calm Space is 2!

We’ve got our party hats on and noise makers at the ready, the streamers are flying and we’re planning to celebrate with lots of virtual cake (the non-fattening kind:), bubbles and good times! Will you join us?

Ok, I’ll pop my cake and bubbles aside for a minute and fill you in on the rest.

Firstly, you’ll notice that we’ve welcomed back our guest contributors Janice Hunter (Kitchen Table Space), Vitania M Liscio (Design Space), Dee Le Blang (Sound Space) and Anne Maybus (Living Space)! Please support these wonderful writers as well as our ‘regulars’ – Chris Owen (Relationship Space), Angela Esnouf (Organising Space), Annie Hutton (Spiritual Space) and Amy Palko (Nature Space & her photography at Breathing Space).

These are truly beautiful women, one and all! They have huge hearts, they are so very generous and offer their wisdom to you with no thoughts of return, their beauty really shines through their words and their pictures. So this month, if you hadn’t already guessed, our theme is Beauty.

And we’re so not talking about anti-ageing or how to look good at (name your age)… that’s just NOT us! We’re not into extreme makeovers, or trotting out the tripe about beauty. I found this quote by Jean Kerr from The Snake Has All The Lines: “I‘m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want – an adorable pancreas?“

No. What we’re talking about is that deep sense of confidence and poise that makes us feel beautiful. That warm glow that we get when we know we’re loved for who we are – warts and all, no matter our weight, despite bad hair days and complexion woes. We’re talking about noticing beauty and letting it infuse our life with wonder and joy.

In honour of our own unique version of Beauty, and our birthday, and simply because We Can… we’re throwing a big come-one-come-all party! You’re invited!

As I talk about in Serenity Space this month, and as Amy also shares in Nature Space, noticing the beauty that surrounds us can change our outlook and even change our life.

Party Invitation

Put on your special beauty-seeking glasses, grab your camera (or your phone) and start noticing! You’re surrounded by beauty – little and big, incredible and heart-warming. Start noticing and start clicking!

Then, to get into the celebration of beauty in a big way, post a photo or four on your blog or Flickr. And write, in just 150 words or less, what Noticing Beauty means to you.

Send us a trackback, and email the link to your post/photo to thecalmspace@gmail.com. If you don’t have a blog or Flickr account, don’t think you’re missing out – email your entry directly to me.

We’ll publish or link to as many of the posts/photos as possible during our month-long celebrations (just be sure to send us your link before 26th October)! Are you in?

Enjoy our Beauty issue, and I hope you find our virtual cake scrumdidlyumptious!

I see the beauty in you…

Káren xx

]]> http://thecalmspace.com/2009/10/noticing-beauty-celebrating-a-birthday/feed/ 3