COMFORT AND JOY

Photo by Timothy Eberley on Unsplash

TIME FOR SOME COSY BLANKET MAGIC…

A spell on Tik Tok or in the kitchen making some rose honey? Simmering up a beeswax candle gift for Christmas giving or brewing a mulled spice delight – decisions, decisions, decisions?

Lockdown brought us all to a hybrid place this weird year. Escaping to our domestic interior bliss, augmented with #WFH Insta Stories. Whether dreaming (or actualising) a country escape to embrace rural life romantically kneading pastry or plucking veg from allotment patches – there’s been headspace this past year to be a bit more self-sufficient and enjoy pleasures of living simply and in a more enchanted way - a magic life.

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

Simultaneously there’s been an air pull to the virtual, the hybrid and the alternate of realities, melting together in an offline-online mix. Some had an exodus to the land, others an exodus to cyber real estate, or – like me – to imagination. Yes foraging, farming, and baking can stop the pandemic panic and lower cortisol levels, but we can’t all prescribe a Victorian idyll of nature and bucolic pastoral delights as a staycation cure for our glum depressive thoughts.

Nature is a comfort in these uncertain days, we find solace in being with her and living life at a slower pace, a bit more cosiness. Yet many of us live in hot sticky cities and spend most of the day behind multiple machines and screens. A soothing therapy to renovate a cottage that you saw on Facebook or Tumblr might need a real-world reality check. Frolicking, picnics, log fires, garden parties, goblin-cottagecore, green witchery, bee keeping, herb gardening and other Midsummer-y (without the murders) green-fingered bliss is hard to achieve from an Asian urban high rise. My oasis is not a rose garden or natural spring or flower-dappled meadows with fields of cows – my wilderness has more snakes, mossies, ants and things that bite you in humidity and heat. Plus – high-rises, air conditioning units and general urbaness. I’ve sweat and city streets not a cosy blanket permaculture haven. And yet still though, I’ve found magic on my balcony with our ‘garden’ – one that doesn’t need to go to bed as there’s no winter in Singapore. And Singapore has kept me and those I love safe and secure.

Photo by Nery Zerate on Unsplash

Cosy, candlelit, cake-munching, things that make us happy, smells of cosiness, cinnamon, coffee, baking, apples, pie, old recipes, sugary, cola-wealth joys, composting, comforts, after eights and chocolate oranges. Witches brew Yankee candles, lush jams, and roses. Mmm all these bring me delight in just their language, their words, syntax. It’s the ontology, the audible perfumery of spelling and grammar sounds – magic words.

So, if you ever get low and sad in the autumnal now wintery dark, put on a smile and get your glow back. Move from the lows and gloom to light, sleep, health and good mental vibes, get back in control, start a new routine, be less anxious, less despondent, eat less carbs, get out more, ditch negative emotions, stop being irritable with everyone and have more energy.

Get a bit of uplift and bounce in these uncertain times. Be a badass holding out a blanket and strong cup of tea. In your midlife forties you need to train harder in goals. But if we relax more and sleep more, we can do more and better cope with life’s pressures, aging and finances. Care for self. Care for the body, mind, spirit and soul. Go spinning on a bike, take a hot yoga class, a long bath, entertain your kids at home, work hard for yourself and your employer, be a good friend, drink water and love hard.

I read somewhere that midlife (like the transition after summer from autumn to winter) is not the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. Autumn and Winter are about death and then rebirth. Pomegranates and apples, wine, chestnuts, parks, conkers, golden ruddy foliage and fallen crunchy leaves, vibrant hues, spiders spinning, landscapes, ancient wood walks, snow under foot, the first flurry of snow, icy hands in mittens, wet wellies and chilly bracing winds & tides.

Photo by Sofya Sokolova via Unsplash

So be a badass, be untamed, be fierce and be wild. Develop uplifting rituals for uncertain times and other practices for resilience magic to cope with corona times and get through it all with cosy calm. Christmas will soon be upon us, a time for comfort and joy – good tidings for all. Wrap this November message around like that warm comforting cosy blanket. ‘Tis the season to empower ourselves with inspiration and soul. And then we can create transformation and healing. We can be good to our soul.

We can rock a higher frequency in a ritual of hope. Every single week of the year we can revitalise body, mind, and soul. We can practice improving our lives and rejuvenate our essence and spirits. We can create a personal refuge like a gateway inside us, safety from the changing season’s storm.

Within each of us is the salve and seed to our medicine. We just need to be fierce of heart and magically resilient in our quest for warmth, nurture and joy. Anchor a little bit of calm and brew up a magic cup of comfort for all.

Photo by Naomi Irons on Unsplash

Here's to some festive cocooning, a really cool Yule, a November that soothes rather than one that is cruel and some wonderful Holidays. Stay resilient, life is magic. 

Believe in humanity vs. virus, trust in man's creativity and curiosity to fix wicked problems, lead and steward others where you can, create meaningful moments, engage and connect deeply at core, inspire and guide, touch and move, strategize your future, design new solutions, keep practicing empathy and compassion, appreciate diversity, foster innovation, read a zillion books to be smart, be incredibly thoughtful, mentor, find a mission and purpose that passion wisely, keep building those dreams (even at midlife in the middle of a pandemic), be helpful and kind, focus on what needs attention, endure, advise and nurture others, unlock potential and opportunity wherever it may be hiding, keep your humour - even in the darkest days, retain your agency, deliver on your promises and commitments, retain your vision, grow, influence, work hard, stay alert and careful to danger, develop relationships, love your weird edges and eclectic eccentricities, stay strong, remain distinctive, keep order, intuit and detect, lean into accidents and make the most of them, fight mediocrity and rally around a cause. 

Be of good counsel and just conscience always, bring fragmented things together, embrace your character and all its idiosyncratic quirks and charms, think both short term and long term, be a guardian of what is good and right, stay effective, push yourself to be your best, live your one wild and precious life, trust that today will be better than yesterday, find what you love and do more of that, look good naked, feel confident, be beautiful, enjoy and create magical experiences, enjoy the daily slices of joy in the small moments, keep your head clear of unnecessary chatter and clutter, ride above distractions, keep climbing that hill of resistance with resilient conviction, breakthrough, win, let the sunshine in, find that north star and follow it, motivate, say yes to stuff, find another way when you get stuck, push forward, rock your soul, have faith, keep going, level-up, take risks, drop fears, stop being scared, hustle, and be brave.

Expand hearts, be capable of great things, retain that sense of wonder, live in the light, re-soul, be grateful, be extraordinary and brilliant, keep your head up, find your magic, be in a safe place, stay accountable and consistent and be merry & bright. Take comfort in all these things. You'll have a happy cosy soul.

Hello November, bring it on 🤎📚 🕯️☕🍁