Soulful Sundays #17: Why Delay?

Welcome to my seventeenth instalment of ‘Soulful Sundays’. A weekly share where I post a roundup of soulful reflections, each including recipes, songs, quotes, blogs I have read and/or any other inspirational discoveries to sooth the soul.

For me, Sunday’s have become a day of quiet contemplation and simple pleasures. A time to reflect on the week gone by and to consider my hopes and dreams for the week ahead.

My hope is to extend some love outward and to share some simple pleasures with anyone who cares to receive them.

Soul Reflections

If we stop for a moment and take a look around, we begin to realise just how lucky we are. This life is pretty wonderful. So why do so many of us delay our happiness?

“…I’ll go on holiday once I’ve tended to the house repairs…” “…When I have more money I’ll be able to do the things I want to do…” “…I’ll look for love when I’m not so busy and have more time…” “…When I retire I’ll pursue my creative passions…” No no no people. The time to live is NOW.

There are no ‘perfect moments’ or ‘right times’ to begin living our lives. Life is far too precious to place on hold for one more day. Our aim is to participate in life in ways that are meaningful and fulfilling. It needn’t be something extraordinary, it could be as simple as watching the sun set, stroking your pet, laughing freely with another whilst goofing about. We each value different things, beliefs vary from one person to the next, but at our core we all wish for the same; peace, abundance, connection, joy, love, freedom, passion, purpose and a sense of belonging…

Each moment is precious. Each moment is sacred. Even the most mundane tasks can be accomplished with a sense of grace and gratitude. When we delay our happiness we fall under the false notion that our time here on earth is limitless – that our happiness is ‘out there’ somewhere waiting for us in the future. But as Henry James reminds us: ‘The right time is any time that one is still lucky as to have…LIVE!”

Soul Strolls

It’s a wee bit drizzly here in Melbourne today, but I managed to capture these pretty white Jasmine flowers whilst out strolling yesterday. These smell wonderful in the evening, like nature’s pure-fume. Delightful.

Soul Food

With the cooler weather I tend to turn to comforting foods, such as stews and soups. Which is why I made this delicious Chunky Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup. It’s healthy, healing and tastes delicious! I hope it warms your tum 🙂

Soul Music

I think this song is pretty fitting for today’s post – I hope you’ll all be rocking out to it as much as I just did. Go on – I dare ya! 😉

Soul Sisters

Today I am sharing Nina’s post Life Is Good When There Is Love. She embodies this weeks Soulful Sunday’s post with grace and gratitude. Live. Be in the moment. Love. Find the magic in the simple. Head over and have a read!

Wishing you all a simple yet extraordinary Sunday!

In love & light,

Hayley xx

Soulful Sundays #9: Creativity & Connection

Welcome to my ninth instalment of ‘Soulful Sundays’. A weekly share where I post a roundup of soulful reflections, each including recipes, songs, quotes, blogs I have read and/or any other inspirational discoveries to sooth the soul.

For me, Sunday’s have become a day of quiet contemplation and simple pleasures. A time to reflect on the week gone by and to consider my hopes and dreams for the week ahead.

My hope is to extend some love outward and to share some simple pleasures with anyone who cares to receive them.

Soul Reflections

This week in Melbourne it’s the Untitled Literary Festival; five libraries, nineteen events and seven days of guest Authors, speakers, and creatives. A dream for anyone who loves the written word. As you can imagine, my diary is pretty booked out this week!

Surrounded by so much inspiration and talent, it got me pondering what it is that I love so much about the literary world and creative expression, in any form really.  For me, it always falls back to the same four fundamental components: connection, exploration, inspiration and imagination. I realise that not everyone may write or create for the same reasons, but for me, these four elements embody my love of creativity and writing.

Connection: Through my writing journey, I have found great connection with countless souls, many whom I consider great mentors and friends. And yes! That includes YOU! Most importantly, I have found connection with my Self. That inner voice of truth that often becomes buried beneath the mental chatter and confusion.

Exploration: Writing is an exploration of the soul. An excavation process, if you will. And the treasures we uncover provide the inspiration for creativity. Through our creative journey, we explore our inner and outer worlds with a sense of newness and wonder.

Inspiration: Inspiration can arrive in many forms, a verbal queue, a fleeting moment, the quiet whispers of our souls, a glaringly obvious recognition, a song, an image, a scene…inspiration is everywhere. We must simply be open to receiving it.

Imagination: Once inspired – or as Wayne Dyer would say; ‘In spirit‘ our boundless imaginations are set free.  Imagination is creativity’s playground.

Whenever I feel creatively blocked, I know it is because I have lost connection in some way, with myself or with others. Once I reconnect – exploration, imagination and inspiration just seem to flow. What are your reason’s for writing/expressing your creativity? What are the core pillars that keep you connected to your truth?

Soul Strolls

Here are a couple of snaps taken on my daily walks this week. Summer is arriving here in Melbourne, and my what a beautiful summer it is. Longer evenings, warmer weather and glorious flowers in full bloom.

Soul Food

Anyone who knows me will know that I am slightly (very) obsessed with peanut butter. I recommend natural, whole-food peanut butters over conventional peanut butters, which usually contain added sugars! So when I found this healthy (yes healthy) vegan peanut butter ice-cream recipe, I had to share. Did someone say peanut butter ice-cream? Yep – she sure did! Nom nom nom.

Soul Sounds

This week I am sharing a piano track for focus named Sleeping Lotus by Joep Beving. I love the sound of the piano, this track is beautiful to listen to whilst in the bath, house cleaning, or simply relaxing and of course, whilst being creative.
**for some reason I cannot embed the track at the moment, so if you use the link for now, I will attempt to embed the video again tomorrow.

Soul Brothers

Today I am sharing A Wish For Writers by Charles French over at Charles French Words Reading and Writing. A simple yet inspiring message of hope for us to persevere with our creativity.

May you all be blessed on this creatively inspired Sunday,

In love and light,

Hayley xx