Enjoy the Good Life

‘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. 🙂

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Image gratitude – http://miriamskalli.de/Enjoy-the-good-life

For more inspiration read my other blog posts

Enjoy the Ride

Enjoy the Ride (Part 2)

 

 

Advice on life

It seems as though most of my posts recently have been starting, ‘I just watched this awesome video and wanted to share it with you’, so I will continue on that theme today.

I have just watched a fantastic Graduation Speech by the very wonderful and funny comedic, musical genius that is Mr Tim Minchin that he gave recently at the University of Western Australia.

He gives advice to the graduates on life and outlines 8 suggestions throughout his speech:

1. You don’t have to have a dream
2. Don’t seek happiness
3. It’s all luck
4. Exercise
5. Be hard on your opinions
6. Be a teacher
7. Define yourself by what you love
8. Respect people with less power than you
9. Don’t rush

In isolation, they don’t make a whole heap of sense, but in the context of his speech they are poetic, philosophical and really very profound. So if you have a spare 11 minutes today, I can highly recommend indulging them in watching the clip.

This aside I have been having some pretty interesting thoughts and feelings on life myself recently. I have dedicated the last 18 months to starting and running my own business, and despite the fact I have put my heart and soul into making it successful and everything I could wish it to be, things have not been moving in the direction I thought they might.

I’ve struggled to find people who need the services that I offer (conscious brand consulting) and even when I’ve found people who love me and what I do, they haven’t been able to pay me for my services. As such, I have come to the conclusion recently that either there is something that I’m not doing, that I should be doing, or that perhaps it’s just not meant to be.

I still don’t have the absolute and final answer, but I’m pretty close to giving up and admitting defeat. Which is OK.

Either way, I guess the learning that I have is, sometimes you just need to let go. Sometimes you need to stop pushing. Sometimes things don’t work out as you’d hope. Sometimes you need to stop doing what you’re doing. Sometimes you need to allow something to fall away, so that you can create space for something else equally (if not more) wonderful to fill its place.

I have no idea how things will roll with Thought Cloud. All I do know is that I’ve come to terms with the fact that it might be time to allow the final curtain to fall and get ready for the next Act to start. Who knows? I’m just going to allow the Universe to do its work and guide me and be open to whoever and whatever shows up in my life to help me out.

Be fearless. Be trusting. Be resilient. Be open. And allow the Universe to take care of you. It knows more about what is right for you in every moment that you can possibly imagine.

Sending you lots of love,

Kat x x x

Image gratitude – http://allwomenstalk.com/8-pieces-of-expert-advice-about-life

It’s never too late to fall in love with your life

In order to live a happy, long life you must fill it with the things, people and places that you love. 

– Kat Kinnie –

I have just read the most brilliantly inspirational article about a 90-year-old woman who lives as though she is still 20. And is perfect proof that it’s never too late to decide to fill your life with the things that you love.

She started her own fashion label at 50, became a musician and learned Italian and French in her 70s, took tango and trapeze at 80 and walked into her first yoga class at 85. So however old you are, there’s always time to make a change.

The question is, what do you want to fill your life with more of? I wrote a post the other day (Fill your life with things you love) about how much I am loving getting into photography and I can’t wait to enjoy the photography course that Darren and I will be taking in July.

An even bigger step for me was that this time last year I made the decision to start singing again. I started singing from about the age of 6 at school and when I got to the age of about 13 I was in 3 choirs, and by the age of 16 I was taking singing lessons and training to be a soprano. After only about 6 months of lessons, I took my Grade 5, and passed with flying colours. Between the age of 16 – 18, I was in a couple of musicals that toured Germany and the Czech Republic, and then when I went to University, I stopped singing for some reason. I’m still not entirely sure why, but I definitely lost my confidence somewhere along the way.

Throughout my 20s, when I was living in London I was a frequent visitor to Lucky Voice Private Karaoke in Soho, choosing it as the destination for my birthday celebrations every year. I even ended up working for them for a short stint too. I was so happy that every Monday, our weekly meetings started at 9am with a group karaoke sing-a-long to 4 songs in our Board Room. It was hilarious watching people gather outside our offices in the street, to look up and try to work out why the sound of 15 people singing Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi was flooding out of an open window just off Oxford Street. Good times.

Here’s the video that I created for my job application. Pretty funny stuff if you’re up for a laugh.

And my love of karaoke culminated in me hiring a Rockaoke band to play at my 30th birthday in St John’s Hill, Battersea, where all of my favourite friends in the UK came to celebrate and belt karaoke songs out from a stage, backed up by a live band. Literally one of the most fun evenings of my entire life and a great way to see in a brand new decade.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Because, if you hadn’t guessed already, I LOVE singing, amongst many other things in life.

And this time last year I decided that I was going to get over my nerves and put an ad in Gumtree to find a guitarist. Which I did. And to my surprise, I had quite a few responses. I actually, had a number of guitarists from which to pick from! I met up with a lovely guy called Rob from the UK who had recently moved to Sydney, who shared my love of the Beatles and we would meet up every week and play songs together and I’d sing.

After a few months of playing together, we ended up performing a couple of Beatles songs at the launch party for my new company, Thought Cloud. One of which was recorded by a very lovely person who came to the concert and popped it up on You Tube.

I cannot even begin to tell you how scared I was, standing up on stage in front of 150 people for the first time in about 16 years. I was petrified. What if I forgot the words? What if people thought I was rubbish? What if I sang the wrong notes? These were all things that went through my mind. But, my love of singing overrode all of those silly, unnecessary thoughts, and I enjoyed every single moment. So much fun, so enjoyable, just awesome.

I then moved to Manly and Rob wasn’t able to make it over for regular rehearsals, so put another ad in Gumtree to find a new guitarist and stumbled across 2 this time. We performed together at another Thought Cloud party last November that was themed Day of the Dead/Halloween, which also happened to coincide with my birthday. One again, the nerves were still there a little, but the desire to sing and have fun, overrode these once more.

Which brings me to now. It’s just over 7 months since then and I haven’t sung since. Things got busy in November as I was applying for my sponsorship and visa through Thought Cloud. I was then living out of a suitcase for the first few months of 2013 while I worked out where I was going to live. Darren and I moved in together into a lovely flat in Manly in April and we have just spent the last few months settling in. And most recently I have been working on a book for my business on Conscious Branding. So, the time has come to find another guitarist and get back into singing methinks. And what better way to make a commitment to this, than by announcing it on my blog. 🙂

I would absolutely love to be able to sing in a bar or pub, once a week or fortnight in Manly, so that is going to be my goal. First I need to find a new guitarist, then we need to practice and get a setlist together, then we need to do our first proper gig together, so I’ll let you know how I go.

And to bring today’s post to a nice neat close, it’s never too late to fall in love with your life and fill it with the things that you love. Just because you have a day job, doesn’t mean that you can’t take up a new hobby or start-up something that you’ve always been meaning to start. Just because you used to do something that you loved when you were little, doesn’t mean that you can’t take it up again later in life. Just because you’ve got a day job doing something that you’re not that passionate about, doesn’t mean to say that you can’t make a change and start-up your own business on the side with the intention of going full-time.

I am living, breathing proof that you can make fundamental positive changes in your life. All you need to do is decide. I have moved countries, I have left the corporate world, I have set up my own company doing something that I really and truly love, I have met the love of my life, I live in a place that I love with all my heart, I’m excited to wake up every day and embrace what life has to offer me and I am completely and utterly in love with my life and it increases every day. I wouldn’t change anything, and I know that the more I embrace the things I love and fill my life with them, it will just continue to get better and better. The opportunities are limitless. . . . .

So, what do you want to have more of in your life, and what can you do right this minute to fill it with? I’m off to write my Gumtree advert for a new guitarist. Feel free to add your comments below.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

P.S.

The photo at the top of the post was taking by a very good friend (and amazing photographer) Mr Graham Binns back in 2007. He has been growing his photography business over the last few years and is another beautiful and shining example of someone who is filling their life with what they love. You can check out his work at grahambinns.com.

P.P.S.

I don’t normally share the videos of me singing, because of my insecurities around singing, but I thought what the heck today. I’ve got nothing to lost. And if this post inspires at least one person to start doing more of one thing that they love, I’ll be a happy bunny.

Inspiration for this post

Loving life at 90 – The Huffington Post

My love of singing

My application video for working at Lucky Voice UK

With a little help from my friends cover at All You Need is Love

Want to know how to be happier in life? Easy, change something

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

– Aristotle –

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet today as it’s getting late and I’d like to sit down and watch a movie with my lovely boyfriend.

However, I would like to share a video with you that I think is particularly inspiring. Watch this especially if you are having Sunday ‘I don’t want to go to work tomorrow’ Blues.

It’s very easy to complain about all of the things that you aren’t happy about in your life, it’s a lot harder to decide to do something about them. 2 and a half years ago I was so miserable, depressed and unfulfilled I didn’t want to get out of bed. So I decided that things needed to change.

I broke up with my boyfriend on my 30th birthday, left the job that I hated and went travelling.

2 and a half years later I now live in a country where the sun nearly always shines, I run my own business that I love and have sponsored myself to stay in said country, and I live with the most beautiful, loving, caring and peaceful man I have ever met. Most importantly, I am in control of my own destiny.

I am living, breathing proof that you can tip the contents of your life upside down and set about replacing and rebuilding everything, exactly as you would like.

Too easy, as the Aussies would say. Happy Sunday everyone. x x x

Inspiration for this post

You Tube video – Your words and thoughts have physical power – Will Smith 

Anything Could Happen

So, here it is, my long awaited blog. This is something that I have been putting off and procrastinating about for years, and the time has come, the time is now.

I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I know I will enjoy writing it.

I’m keen to keep these posts fairly short, sweet and to the point, so people are more inclined to read them. Plus I’m a big fan of Seth Godin’s blog, and his posts are generally a perfect length, so that is my benchmark.

I went to see Ellie Goulding last Friday in Sydney and was completely and utterly blown away by her set. She has been on my ‘to see’ list for quite some time, but nothing prepared me for just how amazing her voice sounds live. The venue was electric with an incredible energy from her & her band, and the response from the crowd. Truly fantastic.

A song from her set has stayed in my head ever since that night. Anything Could Happen.

What if anything literally could happen? What if, despite the fact that we think we’re not in control of our destinies, we actually are? What would you do differently? What would you change? What risks would you take? Where would you live? What career change would you make? What business would you start? What book would you write? Who would you call to tell them that you love them?

Over the last 20 months I have made some pretty seismic changes in my life, which have included leaving my country of birth (England) to go travelling at the age of 30, following my heart and finding myself on the opposite side of the world in Australia. Now I live in my own flat two minutes from the beach, in beautiful Manly, Sydney & run my own philanthropic marketing, branding, design & events business (Thought Cloud Collective) and love every minute of my beautiful life.

I am writing this blog to share the learning’s that I have gained and am continuing to gain on a daily basis. This is in the hope that I can inspire others to live the life of their dreams and trust that if they follow their heart and do the things they love, they will be rewarded.

In the words of Mary Poppins – ‘Until we meet again remember, anything could happen if you let it.’

Feel free to leave comments below or share with anyone who you think would like to read my blog.

Lots of love, hugs and light, Kat x x x

P.S.

Inspiration for this post – Video for Anything Could Happen – Ellie Goulding