Fashion,

A Golden State of Mind

Heya guys!

I am back…AND ready to make this 3rd year break one I will be reminiscing over for the rest of my life. The reason for a mini-hiatus, you may ask? Well, what else could it be? School. Life. Mostly school.  Balancing that, writing, a social life and my other hobbies became much harder than I expected and frankly, my mind was not at all well prepared for what was thrown at me. That brings me to today’s topic. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, then you will realise that much of what I write about has a strong theme of mindfulness. If I’m not trying to get you to live in the current moment or notice and enjoy the simple things in life, then I’m helping you figure out how to answer that darn ‘why’ question.

The way I see it, mindfulness revolves around two main concepts. The first being general awareness. This entails being aware of your surroundings: the people around you, the atmosphere, your physical surroundings, even the circumstances surrounding you. It also means being aware of yourself: your feelings, your emotions, your likes and dislikes. The other concept being the realization that everything begins and ends with your mind. The thoughts you harbour make up who you are. You’ve probably heard the old saying that thoughts crystallize into habit and those habits solidify into circumstance.

A lot of my inspiration on this post came from a book I read as part of my #50bookchallenge. Speaking of, how’s that going for you guys? Mine started off slowly but a proper pace is now kicking in.  The book is quite brief. (21pages only!) The title is ‘As A Man Thinketh’ and it’s written by James Allen. (Thanks Sylvie for the recommendation!) It basically reiterates the second concept of mindfulness but goes on to tackle the effect of your thoughts separately, in relation to one’s character, circumstance, health and body as well as purpose and achievement of goals. It’s a pretty enlightening read!

Now back to my mini-hiatus.

 You must learn to master a new way to think before you can master a new way to be

– Marianne Williamson

I felt this quote on a serious level. My first reaction to being stressed and overwhelmed with deadlines this past semester made me constantly think, ‘…wow I need to be like so and so who didn’t bite of more than they could chew’…‘I need to be like this person who had their deadlines in check’…‘I need to be like this person who didn’t waste an alarming amount of time on Pinterest’…‘I need to be like this girl who managed to drink 2 litres of water and eat a full breakfast every day.’

When in reality I should have begun by changing my mind-set instead of trying to be somebody else, which was my downfall. I only needed to take a step back, look at what I’m doing and really think about it and where I want to be. Then change my current habits from there. With that, I’m now writing my deadlines down months before they’re due and working on them step by step. I’m spending more time implementing great ideas from Pinterest (like this post Whoop! Whoop!) and to top it off, being well prepared for breakfast by planning what yummy meal to whip myself up the night before. All from just being a little more mindful.?

I’ll leave you with a few tips on how YOU can be more mindful:

  1. Be in the present moment. Refer to here and here. ?
  2. Do not overthink your situation. Sometimes I think I need to start an overthinker’s anonymous club. I know for sure the membership would be through the roof. But really, ask yourself one simple question, what good ever comes from overthinking?
  3. Accept what you cannot change or control. This leaves you room to direct all your energy and efforts into what you can.
  4. Trust in a higher power. For me, that’s God.  You have to do your part and leave to God only what he can do.
  5. Find the silver lining. There is always something you can learn, even in a seemingly terrible situation. Be that person always putting in a positive spin.

Photography by Patrick Mbugua

Boho Pants – Forever 21

Croptop – where_ke

Sunnies – Forevertrendy22

NB: Remember that 3rd year break I mentioned up there, well…I’m starting a new series on the blog thanks to it. So be on the look out!

Wishing you a happy and Blessed Easter,

— Ivy xx

016 comments

writer

Heya! I'm Wambui Mabelle. Founder of this blog. Twenty-something year old Kenyan. Lawyer by day, writer by night, foodie by weekends and muser everyday.

16 Comments

Jael

Yaaass.. .more insightful post after post

Reply

Ivy

Thank you love! ?

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Patrick

Nice post Ivy, and welcome back. I was eagerly waiting for the next post. I really love the fact that i actually learn something from all your posts. And then,the pics we took…..????.

Reply

Ivy

Heya Patrick!
Thank you for being patient!
I’m glad you’re enjoying them ????

Reply

Cici

Thank you for this wonderful post that I really needed today. I had began veering off this path but this was a great reminder?
And Ivy i can’t fail to mention how you write so well.#growingandglowing

Reply

Ivy

Hey Cici!
I’m glad I could have been of help ??
Thank you so much! It means a lot.

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Florence

Has this come timely or what! So applicable and I refuse to overthink, will trust in God and live every moment of this terrifying and exciting times??.

Am on book number 5! Americana, Art of War, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and now The American??

Reply

Ivy

Thank you!
Yes, glad you can relate! That is the best ting you can do. ??
That’s great progress ??
We are on the same number ?

Reply

Mabelle

Food for deep thought Ivy. May take some of us your readers time to self indulge before making comments.

Keep it coming…and bon voyage.

Reply

Ivy

Thank you Dad! 🙂 🙂
Will do!

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Pablo

Interesting and enjoyed reading. Thanks for the five tips.

Reply

Ivy

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.
Hope they could be of some help. 🙂

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Syrup Kip

But what a post! We were not prepared!
And those photos aisee!
Fantastic job 🙂

Reply

Ivy

Hey Kip!
Thank you so much! 🙂 🙂

Reply

Wanjiru

Wow love your tips and your pictures are insane??

Reply

Ivy

Heya Wanjiru!
Thank you so much 🙂 🙂

Reply

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