daily joy

happy happy to me!

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Today I woke up grateful. And happy, like deep down in my soul happy.
Today is my 30th birthday and it has been an absolutely perfect day.
Today I realized that all of my dreams have come true. Every single one.
It scares me to say that, as if saying it will bring something bad on, but there’s so much crap in the world that sometimes we all have to shout out loud about the good stuff.

And there’s a lot of good stuff everywhere.

So, dear world, thank you for making this gal feel so darn loved.

Hugs,
mxo

mondays…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Today is my first of many Mondays off.

It’s been a quiet day, a day to be introspective and scrub my soul.

I’ve been reading Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly and, like any great book, it hit a nerve.

It forced me to temporarily push passed my vulnerability and my perfectionism and roll out my yoga mat for the first time in seven months.

So here I am… in sweats, au naturel, growing belly and all. Vulnerable but joyous.

growingbellyyogi

“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world…” ~ Brene Brown

mxo

Surviving Wholefoods

Link ~ ~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Surviving Wholefoods

“I went on a cleanse once; it was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I detoxified, I purified, I lost weight. On the other hand, I fell asleep on the highway, fantasized about eating a pigeon, and crapped my pants. I think I’ll stick with the whole eating thing.”

This is a must read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html

Happy Wednesday!

mxo

easter moments…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Today I went to buy flowers and ended up at the zoo. 

I hung out with my friend, Mr. Bison, and listened to kiddies squeal with “Feed the Llamas Day” excitement.

I paused to snap a few pics and overheard snippets of Easter conversations.

9968 steps later, I realized there are no ordinary moments. No two moments are the same, not if you open your eyes and open your heart.

Happy Easter. Much love.

mxo

10 reasons…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

               image

10 reasons why it was definitely worth getting out of bed this morning:

  1. Sun is shining. The weather is sweet.
  2. Brisk morning walks to shake off the cobwebs. 
  3. Cobweb-shake-off walks to procure delicious croissants and almond mylk lattes from Hula Girl. 
  4. Cobwebs are from a night filled with friends, family, great food (Playa Cabana is a must!), and music (Lusine at CMW). 
  5. New friends who I adore and who teach me so much about life (thx Bubbs). 
  6. It’s one of my bestest friend’s 30th today. She’s awesome. She plays the trumpet and the piano and all sorts of other instruments.  I adore her. 
  7. Bonobo and Erykah Badu on one track… is this for real?!
  8. My blunnies have finally moulded perfectly to my feet.
  9. Croissants delivered to a happy family. 
  10. It’s Sunday. It’s quiet. There’s still so much day ahead!

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Happy Sunday!

mxo

off the hook…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

It’s early on a Saturday morning. 

I’m up, alert, and enjoying the quiet before the day gets going.

Right before I disappeared to bed last night, I wrote this in my journal…

I’ve been thinking a lot about how finite life is, how this is really it and how each day passes without a do-over. I guess for some people that would serve as a stern kick in the butt – a motivator to get going, start doing, and be someone more. For me, after almost 30 years of pedal-to-the-metal overachieving, I just want to slow down and live. I already feel like life is passing me by and I might totally miss it if I don’t slow down soon.

Being alive is a privilege. I want a long life filled with love (friends and family), great food (coffee!) and the occasional adventure. I want dinner dates and pretty things. I want trips to far away places and cozy weekends at home. I want to savour life and not feel like I’m on a speeding training racing towards the proverbial next step (do we ever get there? where is there?) I want to read books and loiter, and occasionally do yoga. I want to write in my journal about all of the things I want. I want the life I already have… 

image

So, with that, I’m letting myself off the hook. Again.

Happy Saturday! 

Much love.

mxo

life = fun (or at least it should)…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

My brother-in-law is one of the coolest people I know… by far. Here’s why.

Something Jamie wrote in an email last week really, REALLY stuck with me. We were chatting about the concept of following your passion. He said this:
  

“People always ask me how long I will do coco loco and I always say until I don’t enjoy it anymore. 
Life is too short to waste time.”

Brilliant, and far more prophetic than I think he realized. Here’s the thing, it’s amazing to follow your passion, assuming you know what it is, but I think it can be much simpler than that.

It’s okay to just have fun. In fact, when you stop having fun, you should really consider shaking things up. 

Many of us seem to have forgotten that it’s okay to be joyous, that life is supposed to be enjoyed.

Now, the caveats:

Caveat one: define fun

  • Fun doesn’t have to mean quitting your job and partying away all of your money and sanity. That’s not very sustainable.  

Case in point: I don’t love my job – as far as jobs go, it’s pretty great, but it’s not my “passion”. Some days it’s not even all that fun BUT it affords me a life that’s fun. Because of my job, I can travel to see my bro-in-law several times a year. It means I can go to yoga and out for dinner dates with great friends. Etc. My job is actually one of the reasons I can enjoy life as much as I do.

Caveat two: timelines matter

  • Every day is not going to be fun. We’re human, we wake up on the wrong side of the bed (even in paradise). We have bad days and heck, even bad weeks and bad months. You can’t judge the fun quotient of your life on too short of a time period BUT you also can’t put it off forever (i.e. “when I retire…”). Watch this awesome TED Talk. You’ll know in your gut what timeline is most appropriate.

There’s still part of me that thinks this is a selfish approach… but a wiser part knows that that fear is hogwash. Truth is, if more of us spent more time having fun and enjoying life, this planet (or at least the morning subway commute!) would be a far happier place.

Jamie’s morning commute…

I end this really, really, really long post (sorry!) with this:  you don’t always have to be going somewhere or pursuing some goal. It’s okay (and great!) to just be and have fun doing it!

mxo

P.S. Thanks bro!  🙂

unstuck list…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Good morning!

I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover from last night’s teary-ness. Rather than wallow, I decided to shift my energy! I decided to practice this joy business. 🙂

So, I got busy:

  • I made the most delicious lemon and ginger elixir, and followed it up with a “Peep in My Step” juice (recipe below).
  • I did my exercises and stretches.
  • And enjoyed a few minutes of silence.
  • I had a super healthy breakfast, and took every possible staircase I could to work.
  • And now this, liquid joy:
Americano from Mercatto, made by Alice. Joy.

It’s almost three hours later and I feel new. Brand new. It’s that simple. 🙂

OH, and yes, this:

Last night I stumbled upon Robin Sharma’s 62 Tips to Get Unstuck in 2013 and absolutely loved it.

Here are the top 25 that really resonated with me:

  1. Start your day with 20 minutes of exercise.
  2. Stop watching TV. (Bonus points: sell your tv and invest the cash in learning and self-education).
  3. Remember that your diet affects your moods so eat like an athlete.
  4. Spend an hour a day without stimulation (no phone+no FaceBook+no noise).
  5. Write in a journal every morning. And record gratitude every night.
  6. Do work that scares you (if you’re not uncomfortable often, you’re not growing very much).
  7. Smile more (and tell your face).
  8. Do a collage filled with images of your ideal life. Look at it once a day for focus and inspiration.
  9. Plan your week on a schedule (clarity is the DNA of mastery).
  10. Stop gossiping (average people love gossip; exceptional people adore ideas).
  11. Do a nature walk at least once a week. It’s renew you (you can’t inspire others if you’re depleted yourself).
  12. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable at least once every 7 days.
  13. Remember that to double your income, triple your investment in learning, coaching and self-education.
  14. Achieve 5 little goals each day (“The Daily 5 Concept” I shared in “The Leader Who Had No Title” that has transformed the lives of so many). In 12 months this habit will produce 1850 little goals–which will amount to a massive transformation.
  15. Write handwritten thank you notes to your customers, teammates and family members.
  16. Use the first 90 minutes of your work day only on value-creating activities (versus checking email or surfing the Net).
  17. Breathe.
  18. Keep your promises.
  19. Brain tattoo the fact that all work is a chance to change the world.
  20. Spend more time in art galleries. Art inspires, stimulates creativity and pushes boundaries.
  21. Read a book a week, invest in a course every month and attend a workshop every quarter.
  22. Remember that you empower what you complain about.
  23. Become the fittest person you know.
  24. Become the kindest person you know.
  25. Know your “Big 5″–the 5 goals you absolutely must achieve by December 31 to make this year your best yet.

Hope you can find something that inspires you this morning.

So much love,
mxo

P.S. My “Peep in My Step” juice involved apples, kale, celery, swiss chard, and lots of ginger. Yum!