‘When you’re happy like a fool, let it take you over When everything is out you gotta take it in Oh, this has gotta be the good life’
– One Republic, Good Life –
As I sit here typing an email to confirm the details for the bank account that my partner and I are opening for our new conscious clothing company, Katkin, I’m listening to Good Life by One Republic. And its a very simple message that I want to share with you today and that is about appreciating the good life.
Life is always going to throw us curve balls. People are sometimes going to act out of turn and blindside you. People might get sick. You may have disappointments or things that make you confused or sad. However, with every down there is an up. Without the sour we can’t enjoy the sweet. And this is the magical and varied tapestry of the thing we call life. And no matter what happens, essentially we are here to enjoy the ride and the journey.
So, whatever goes on in your life. Feel it, experience it, observe it, and ultimately aim to enjoy it and make the most of it, because this is the opportunity that we have in every moment that we are alive in these beautiful bodies living upon this exquisite planet.
So, this blog post is dedicated to enjoying the good life. And whenever life is giving you lemons, you always have the opportunity to turn them into lemonade. It just takes a little sugar and water. 🙂
‘In your own time There’s no map to guide our way So I say nothing, you say nothing In your own way Thought I could help you find your place But I’m as lost as you are lost’
– In Your Own Time, Keane –
I’m an eternal optimist. Always have been, always will be. I have always seen the best in people, and always see their highest potential from the get go. I always see their light. The tricky thing is, they don’t always see what I see . . . .
There’s one very special person in my life who I have known from a very young age would be an incredibly successful author. She has always had an incredible gift for writing and a fantastic imagination. I told her a long, long time ago that I saw this future for her, but it was just too overwhelming for her to get her beautiful head around, and she never believed me. So I gave up encouraging her and trusted that if it was meant to be, it would happen.
I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t frustrated or even a little sad that she wasn’t living up to her potential and using the gifts that she had been given, but this is something I have had to come to terms with in my life.
The good news is, she has started writing, and a book is on its way. It might be ten years after I realised that this was her destiny, but better late than never right?
We can have the best intentions for people in our lives. We can see their gold and the light that is shining right inside of them, but we can’t reach in and turn it up for them. They have to do that for themselves. And we must accept that. We must also accept that we can’t rush them, we can’t push them, we can’t force them, nor can we cajole them. And even more importantly, we must also accept that they may never live up to their potential. Which is probably the hardest one of all for me.
There is another very special person in my life, and I know that they are on this planet to do the most spectacular things. They are wise, creative and gifted beyond comprehension, but they just aren’t ready to embrace their gifts and talents, and perhaps never will. And they may never embrace the spiritual world that is here to help them cultivate their gifts and co-create with them.
I think it is one of the hardest things in life for me to meet people whom I know aren’t living their truth. People who aren’t following their life path or their purpose. People who aren’t using the incredible gifts and talents that they have been given. It makes me sad and frustrated. However, I’m learning more and more every day to let this go, and allow people to find these things out for themselves in their own time, or perhaps not at all.
I also hope and wish that one day I will find a beautiful partner who is aware of what they’re here to do, their gifts and talents and are living on purpose and walking their life path with hope, love, peace and joy. That would make me very happy indeed.
I’m also so incredibly happy and grateful that Numerology came into my life, because it is the most wonderful way to learn all of these things about you. Your Numerology chart is pretty much your cheat sheet for life. A Blueprint for everything that is awesome about you, your gifts, talents, your life path, what makes your heart sing, what your personality is, what your ultimate life purpose is and what themes lie ahead for you.
And for all the people I meet who aren’t living their truth, I take comfort and joy and excitement in the people who come to me for a reading, because these are the people who are ready. These are the people who are ready to do what they came here to do.
My darlings, don’t be afraid to look inside for your light. Don’t be afraid to reach in and turn it up as brightly as you can. Don’t be afraid of how bright your own light can shine, because the brighter you shine, the more you will inspire others to do the same.
Write that book. Start that business. Paint that painting. Make that change. Do what you came here to do. Use the beautiful gifts that you were given.
Sending you love, hugs and light my beautiful friends,
Kat x x x
P.S.
A 60 minute Numerology reading with me costs $250 and you will get your very own Numerology chart as a pdf to keep forever. I hold them in person in Manly or over Skype. Drop me an email at kat@thoughtcloudcollective.com if you’d like one.
‘Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy life’
– Terri Garr –
It’s been a while my lovelies. I’m so sorry. There have been a lot of shifts and changes that have been happening in my life over the last few months and I haven’t felt in the right space to share them.
Just to bring you up to speed, I’ll give you a quick list, so you know what has been going on in my world:
I’ve moved back to Manly
I’ve broken up with my boyfriend Darren
Despite breaking up, Darren and I have decided to start a business together (Katkin)
We’ve put in and received the first order of t-shirts and totes for Katkin
My beautiful sister has fallen pregnant
I have started to heal my eyes naturally using Ortho-K lenses
I’ve acquired some beautiful new clients through Thought Cloud
And have completely and utterly fallen in love with Coldplay’s new song Magic from their upcoming album, Ghost Stories, which will be out on 19 May (very exciting!!)
And the bottom line as to why I haven’t written my blog for what seems like ever, is because Darren subscribes to this blog (although I’m not entirely sure whether he ever reads it, maybe I’ll find out once I have written this!), but because of everything that has been going on between us over the last 3 months, I haven’t wanted to write my blog. And the main reason is that when I write, I write the truth, and if I had written my blog, I would have worried about him reading how I was truly feeling and what was going on for me, so I thought it better to not write at all, rather than writing, but not sharing the whole truth (considering my blog is about inspiring people to live a life of truth, peace and love).
So, with that out of the way, I’m glad to be back. Every now and then I take time away from my blog and it actually feels good. But I do miss writing and I miss the consistency of sharing, so I’m going to do my very best to write more frequently.
I have also recently been getting some very positive and complimentary feedback from people about my blog and the content of what I share and how inspiring it is. So I feel as though it is very important for me to be continuing to write and share what’s happening in my life and what I’m learning as I go. Because even if I help or inspire one other person, it’s worth writing.
So, once again, so sorry for being away for so long. Thank you for your patience and thank you for still being there to read this.
I love you, I hope all is well in your world and I look forward to sharing more with you.
Feel free to share any updates in your beautiful world, thoughts and feelings in the comments box below.
Love, hugs and light,
Kat x x x
P.S.
I’m sure I will be sharing more on the list of things I’ve updated you on above as time goes by. There’s a lot to fill you in on . . . . 🙂
“May I become at all times, Both now and for ever, A protector for the helpless, A guide for the lost ones, A ship for those to cross oceans, And a bridge to cross rivers, A sanctuary for those in danger, A lamp for those in darkness, A refuge for those who need shelter, A servant to all in need.”
– Dalai Lama –
When I woke up this morning, I knew that I would write a blog post today about the importance of shelter.
Recently I have found myself needing to find a new place to live, and despite my best efforts of looking and searching, not much showed up. In fact, it wasn’t until all of my things were packed into a removal van, did I get a text message from a friend offering me to come and stay in their spare room. How funny the Universe can sometimes be, leaving you hanging, right until the 11th hour.
So, even though it’s Christmas, and the majority of my possessions are in storage, I am very grateful to have had a place to stay for the last few weeks, and will have for the coming months. This stray Kat has a home for the foreseeable future. Better still, the people that I am living with are all beautiful, kind and incredibly compassionate.
Plus, it seems as though I’m not the only stray who has been welcomed into the house, but another cat (who we have affectionately named Dave) has started to visit us regularly. In fact, I think he came to see us on 4 separate occasions yesterday. No sign of him today, but perhaps he’s enjoying some Christmas Treats with his own family today.
I can’t tell you how special it is knowing that I have a loving home to come and live in. A place where I feel welcome, and that I belong. Even though my biological family are on the other side of the world, it is incredibly comforting to feel part of someone else’s, when it isn’t possible to be with them physically.
And it is for this reason that the new company I am starting next year is supporting a Children’s Shelter in Kathmandu, Nepal called the Katja House Foundation. They exist to give shelter, food and clothing to the street children of Nepal.
And for every tote bag that we sell through Katkin, we will give shelter to one street child for one night.
There are over 30,000 street children in Nepal and there are 500 children a year that are added to that list in Kathmandu alone.
There is a running joke in Australia, that if you’re an expat here at Christmas and you’re not with your family, then you are referred to as an orphan, and that is true for me this year. In fact it will only be the second Christmas out of the 33 years that I’ve been on this planet, that I won’t be spending it with my family.
However, I’m grateful for the shelter and beautiful home that I have to live in, the lovely family that I am living with and the food, fun and frolics that we will all be enjoying together over the festive period.
‘Keep giving me hope for a better day Keep giving me love to find a way Through this heaviness I feel I just need someone to say, everything’s okay’
– Lenka –
After Parts 1 and 2 to this series, welcome to Part 3.
. . . . So, even though I was always earning, generally, whatever I earned, I spent. So I had a break even approach. And this approach fell down for me this year, because I didn’t earn, and therefore I had nothing to spend. A perfect way (although it didn’t seem so at the time) to learn that I needed to find a better way of managing money.
And during these last 7 months I read a fantastic book that has changed my life. Secrets of the Millionnaire Mind – Think Rich to Get Rich by T.Harv Eker is a book about money with a whole bunch of awesome spiritual messages and philosophies trojan horsed into it. And despite its title, it’s a book as much about how to get your mindset in the right place in order to become a millionnaire, as it is about changing what he refers to as you ‘Money Blueprint’, which he believes we are all born with. He helps you to become aware of limiting beliefs that you might have around money and he gives you specific and practical exercises that you can do to start to shift and change them.
However, the MOST helpful piece of advice that he gave in the book that has helped to completely and utterly change my relationship with money is this.
For every amount of money that comes into your bank account, whether it is $10, $100, $1000, $10,000, $100,000 or $1,000,000, split that amount in 6 different ways.
50% goes into a necessities pot – this is for all the essential things in your life like rent, bills, food etc.
10% goes into a fun pot – this is for doing (funnily enough) fun things in life, anything from going to a gig, out to dinner with a friend or rock climbing
10% goes into an education pot – this is for furthering your personal education and development. It could contribute to training courses you’d like to do or books you’d like to read.
10% goes into a long term savings pot – this is pretty straightforward.
10% goes into a financial freedom pot – this pot is for investing. Ultimately, the investments that you make with this money will mean that your money is working for you, rather than you working for your money. Some good sound investments here could significantly change things in your life for the better.
10% goes into a giving pot – the idea of tithing has been around for a long time, and put simply, it is the act of giving 10% of what you earn to a good cause.
I started doing this in July when I read the book. You can do it with as little as $10, but it has completely and utterly changed how I am interacting with and dealing with money. I even went to the extent of setting up separate savings accounts with my bank, so that I could separate my money into each of the pots.
To read the last instalment of this 4 part blog post series, tune in tomorrow.
Here’s a beautiful song called ‘Everything’s OK‘ to make you feel good today by the lovely Lenka.
Recently I have really got into the crowdfunding movement. I think it is one of the most beautiful ways to get funding from likeminded people for a project, book, film, album or business you are wanting to start, but lack the capital to get it going.
I’m working on a film called A Vibrational World at the moment and we will be running a crowdfunding campaign for the first round of funding quite soon. And I am also pulling together a campaign to fund a conscious clothing company that I am wanting to start called Katkin. More on those two projects in later posts though.
Anyway, I have set the intention to start to find and fund projects through Indiegogo that I think rock, and yesterday was no exception.
I came across the most beautiful musical artist from Seattle, called Parzival yesterday who was looking for $1000 funding to support the release of his new album called ‘Pisces Rising’. The album ‘tells the story of love and self-acceptance as a way through modern perils.’ Which I thought was super cool, especially considering the work that I have been doing on myself in this space over the last few years.
So I followed the link to the campaign page and came across this incredibly beautiful song, which reduced me to tears pretty quickly. ‘Til I Knew You, is not only a song about love for another, but most definitely a song about the love that we need to have for ourselves. And the fact that we can only experience that love, when we decide to truly open our heart and allow ourselves to be vulnerable.
I donated $25 US in exchange for a digital download of his new album, a CD copy of it and a copy of his first CD too. The digital download was emailed to me a few hours after I had donated, which was super cool.
Firstly I would say, if you like the song, pop along to his Indiegogo page and contribute to his campaign. And secondly I would say, if you have any kind of project or business idea that you have had in the back of your mind or floating around for some time, but have been held back by lack of funds, now you have no excuse. Just set up a crowdfunding campaign, share it with friends and family and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised.
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
I’ve not written my blog for over a month now, and up until yesterday I didn’t know why.
I’m currently doing the most fantastic training course with a beautiful healer and personal development trainer called Robert Kirby and we did a process yesterday which required us to look objectively at who we think we are (the dark/shadow) and who we really are (the light).
What I realised is that because I have had some slightly dark times recently, I haven’t wanted to share them with my blog, for fear of exposing myself to be anything less than light. Thinking that I would be being inauthentic.
How wrong, could I have been?
However, in doing so, I have denied the dark, and therefore, actually denied the real truth.
We, as human beings, having a spiritual experience are both. The light and the dark. The ups and the downs. The yin and the yang. The masculine and the feminine. And when we deny one of the other, it is impossible to live a life in balance.
By acknowledging that both are present in us, we allow ourselves to be strong and vulnerable.
The other amazing thing, is that the intuitive horoscope for me (Scorpio) yesterday from the very wonderful Ghazeleh Lowe confirmed this for me too:
Scorpio: The Scorpion
‘You are dedicated today dear Scorpio and you’ll come to see the most divine feeling within you that enables you to awaken and this awakening is one of the most rarest gifts that life can offer. I feel that as your day meets more of your moments you’ll realise that you don’t need your head for the decisions you are about to make in your life. All I can say is that you are about to fly so damn high it’ll be impossible to have you fall ever again.’
I’m starting to have some really incredible realisations and understandings while doing Robert’s work, but the one that has been very strong for me over this 4 day course is just to embrace the light and the dark in ourselves.
I have spent so many wasted hours beating myself up for feeling a certain way, trying to run away from my shadow, wanting to delete it, eradicate it completely. But the truth of the matter is, we are both. And once you embrace both, especially the dark, it no longer has power over you. The important thing is not to dwell though. If you have a dark moment or a dark thought, better still to observe it, knowledge it, know that it is there, then embrace it and allow it to move through you.
I came across this wonderful video by Mr John Legend that fits this post perfectly today. Thank you Universe for bringing it to me. 🙂
Sending you love, light and hugs,
Kat x x x
P.S.
My blog is back, I’ll be writing daily blog posts regularly from now on. Light and dark. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. 🙂
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
– Salvidor Dali –
I had a very beautiful chat with a wonderful new friend of mine today about life, spirituality, philosophy and all things metaphysical. In amongst that we talked about the importance of doing what you loved and I mentioned how much I love writing my blog.
He responded by saying that he would love to write a blog, but that he overthinks and rewrites a blog post 20 times and can take an entire day to get something out, and wishes that he wasn’t so much of a perfectionist.
I laughed and said that since writing my blog, and having written over 120 blog posts since March, I have worked through my previous issues with perfectionism in that I can write, edit and put out a 500 word blog post in about 20 minutes. Sometimes less. The only way I have got to that is by letting go of what I think I should write, or what I think people want to read, and rather just write intuitively. I have also worried less about proofreading everything to heck. Knowing full well that I will be forgiven by my beautiful readers if there is a small typo or spelling mistake and that it’s OK if I use its when I should have used it’s. Because really, it’s the content of what I’m saying that matters, rather than the accuracy of it.
Interestingly, I have just made a mistake, by putting a link to the wrong video in my blog. Now for those people who will be heading directly to my blog, that doesn’t matter, because I have rectified this and they will see the correct video there.
However, for those of you beautiful people who receive my blog directly to your inbox, you will have noticed that the video that I embedded in the post is not that of the Graduation Speech made by Mr Tim Minchin, but actually a video created by a girl who used it to quit a job that she wasn’t that bothered about any more.
So I thought I would write a blog post on this, and highlight the fact that, it’s OK to make mistakes. People won’t think any less of you. Everything happens for a reason and things can be righted as quickly as they were wronged.
And the best advice of all? Worry less about things be perfect and just be. If you make a mistake, it’s OK. If something you do isn’t perfect, it’s OK. At least you did it!
If I hadn’t started writing my blog just because I was worried about making mistakes or it not being perfect, I would never have put the 120 odd blog posts that I have put out there into the Universe. It’s all good.
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
– Plato –
I said that I would share 5 songs every month, and July was a little busy for me and 5 songs might be a little much, so I’ll commit to sharing 3 songs every month from now on, and we’ll create a nice big list of happy songs at the end of the year.
Here are my Top 3 Feel Good songs of the moment for you. Enjoy!
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a secret gig of Mark Wilkinson‘s deep in the heart of Sydney’s Surry Hills, at a very beautiful night held by the lovely people at High Tea.
The inconspicuous building of 342 Elizabeth St could quite easily have been missed, and once inside, you needed to navigate a host of staircases and corridors which took you through a maze of concrete graffiti emblazoned walls. However, what was waiting for us, was something quite different.
When we got to the second floor, we were met by a candlelit doorway and greeted by our lovely host for the evening.
After having our names signed off on the guest list, we then found a table full of different sized antique teapots with a myriad of different teas on offer to us. Chai, Peppermint, Camomile . . . It was perfect, as I have decided of late, that I’m really not that fussed about drinking anymore.
Once our teacups were filled with delicious hot tea, my friend Kerry and I, had a chat with Mark and his manager and then found a comfortable spot on the floor and settled down to enjoy his dulcet tones.
The setting was beautiful. It felt as if we were in someone’s living room. We were surrounded by about 100 other like-minded people, sitting on a rug covered wooden floor, with candles in front of us fairy lights to our right and lanterns hanging above us. Utter bliss, for a fan of Mark’s music. The most wonderfully intimate venue, in which to enjoy his music. He opened with the delicately beautiful ‘For the first time in years‘.
I had been invited by Mark’s Manager to review the gig for the blog Timber and Steel to help spread the love for Mark’s forthcoming new album and Australian Tour ‘Let The River Run‘. I’m super excited for the launch on 9th August.
He played a few songs from the new album, and a few older songs, including my personal favourite All I Ever Wanted. It is a song that I have already written a blog post about, I’m Alive. And is a song that was one of my anthems for 2012. It kept me going when I had doubts about having left the Corporate World in order to follow my heart and dream of starting my own business.
And the sentiment of the song seems to be so very timeless for me. He sings ‘All I ever wanted was to be someone, more than just a shadow from a fading sun. And you tell me I’m here, and you say I’ll survive, but I’m searching for more, to know that I’m alive.’
And it isn’t so much the fact that I wanted to necessarily be someone, but I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life. And the funny thing is, that when you focus on doing something worthwhile, you inadvertently become someone.
I write this blog to share the spiritual and life learnings that I am gathering as I continue on my journey of enlightenment, conscious growth and awakening. I also write it to inspire people to live a life full of love. To fill it with love for yourself, love for others, love for what you do and love for where you are. Because love is the highest vibration that we can emit as human beings, and when we are emitting love, only good can come of it.
And so, the thought for the day is ‘Be Someone.’ But in order to be someone, all you need to do is follow your heart. I put of starting a blog for so long, it isn’t funny. I was so frightened that no one would want to read it, worried that what I wrote wouldn’t be of any value or noteworthy, how wrong I could have been.
When I got over all of my fears and just felt the fear and did it anyway, only amazing things have come of it since.
I choose to write about things that I love, things that inspire me, things that hold me to a higher standard and vibration. I write my blog to help me be the best person that I can possibly be. And by doing so, I hope that I inspire others to do the same, by being the example myself.
I have always loved music. I had a radio show at University and I wrote for our University magazine, reviewing albums, gigs and interviewing bands. I loved it, and I was good at it. I never followed that career path, because I didn’t think I was good enough or knew enough. I always thought that there were people out there better suited to that than me. Once again, how wrong I could have been.
Within 4 months of starting my blog and writing about things that I love, I have been invited to write a gig review. Some would say that is a coincidence, I would say that is the magic of the Universe. This is how the Universe rewards us for following our hearts and doing what we love. In turn, the Universe has come to know me as someone who writes and blogs, and someone who loves music, and in particular Mark, which is how the invite came around.
So, my question for you today is this, if you wanted to be someone, be known as someone, who would you like to be known as? A writer, a painter, a photographer, a teacher, a philanthropist, a social entrepreneur, a coach, a mentor, because you can decide. You can decide who you want to be and how you would like to be known.
And the thing I have learnt is this, it is better to decide who you would like to be, rather than allow others to decide that for you.
Kat Kinnie's Blog 