The jar of wishes

To be quite honest I came up with this idea several years ago. But I was thinking that it may possibly inspire more people.
 
That is why I am sharing this idea with you today.
 
What is a jar of wishes?
 
In this jar -mine is technically a vase- you collect things you want to do. Things to get you out of your comfort zone. Things you don't normally do. It's nice to expand your horizon like that.
These wishes range from simple things to more advanced ones. I bought this vase and bunch of little cute and colorful notes. 

On these notes I wrote my wishes.
A few examples:
 

• Do karaoke
• Redecorate your house
• Buy yourself flowers
• Visit a ballet show
• Book a trip and travel alone
• Take a mermaid swimming class
• Learn how to do stand up comedy and perform
• Take yourself out on a date.  

I even invited some friends to do it for me. To get outside inspiration. I was just curious to see what they would come up with for me. I challenged them to do a jar of wishes as well. The idea is that you take a note out once in a while and work towards whatever is on the little piece of paper

I folded the notes and put them in my jar of wishes. I gave them a good toss with my hands to mix them up.
I call them my wish notes. 
 



It is such a simple idea, but I really love it. I just dusted off my vase and took out a note.
And guess what? It couldn't be more perfect!

It says: Today do something that you can do well, and enjoy it fully!

Let's say that today my day is going to be about writing and gathering more inspiration.
I really hope that you enjoyed this post of mine.

Would you conisder keeping a jar of wishes?
If so, I would love to hear from you and for you to share your jar of wishes with me.
Remember that I'll return any love given on my blog. Just leave your links below in the comment section.

Love and blessings,

Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

The jar of wishes

Unlimited dreaming - writing a book

Unlimited dreaming is my Sunday morning series. It's about the big dreams that I would love to be a reality. I think many people have forgotten how nice it is to dream. Rainbow's dreamy cloud wouldn't do it's name honor without this unlimited daydreaming. So here it is.

My dream: writing a fictional book.

The past

I've cherished this dream ever since I was a 10 year old. I had found my talent for writing and enjoyed writing stories. That the stories had no real beginning, middle or end and were only limited to the other the subject of another dream: owning a horse stable with a 100 horses didn't matter. It was writing. And I wrote about the life on this fantasy horse stable with characters and mostly lots of drama.
A few years later I discovered a television show about Robin Hood. The whole story fascinated me so much that I would continue to write about that. From that point on I would also begin to make up stories with a beginning, middle and end. I wrote a story about an unlucky flower that brought misfortune to the lives of those who picked it. I got into a writers flow and entered stories into competitions at my young age. Which I would win and would celebrate that win by more writing.
Writing has always been one of my first loves.
Then eventually when I turned 17 and started college, I lost that part of me. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the idea of having to become an adult and going into the world. My flow got blocked and at one point I had no idea how I had ever found the courage to start and end a story. I think it's mostly the perfectionist in my head, and some hard critics online that made that combination for me.

The present

As you see I have never fully left writing. About a few years ago, I had started to write again. There were some poems, and the writing of quotes.
From that point I found the courage to start a blog. I wanted to write about lifestyle, creativity, inspiration and one of my other love's cooking. I realize I am a human being with lots of passions that I all want to embrace as much as I can.
There were a few moments that I actually sat down with the idea of a story floating in my mind, but as soon as I sat down and opened my writing program, all the cursor would do was wink at me as I struggled with my empty page.
I become inspired by people like J.K Rowling and am full of wonderment. She didn't only create a story. She created a whole world around it. The stories must have lingered and lived in her for such a long time. Even before writing Harry Potter.
Through the practice of creative visualization I often open up doors to such worlds in my own imagination. This is where my book characters linger and beg me to write their story.
And I tell them: 'I'm sorry guys, you are just going to have to wait'
I found the courage the share my view of my life, the way I get inspired, and others that inspired me by writing on this blog. That is actually a huge start for me.
I think when it comes to actual fiction I should allow myself to do more unlimited dreaming. 
There is that 10 year old in me that also still wants me to write like I used to. To become one with that creative flow and inspired fantasy.
It is the 10 year old girl that wants me to make that dream of writing a book become a reality one day.

The future

Before I wrap this I cannot forget to draw up a future intention.
The other day I found a little book in which I wrote my intention to find my perfect house.
I wrote the requirments my house would meet in the future. Trust me that it is quite eerie that my house actually meets those requirements as I had forgotten all about what I'd written down by the time I actually found it. This is why I work with intentions.


My book
will have a catching start that will draw you right into my story. You will want to know more about what is going on. You will feel as if you are a bystander in my story. One that cannot be noticed by the characters that are in it. The main character is a person that is one that has yet to discover her or his hidden talents and who is suddenly faced with a situation in which he/she is challenged to the limit. We also need someone to work against our maincharacter. I would like a bit of a bit of an incompetent villian who needs the help of allies to stop our anti hero from reaching their goal in the story.
The story will have elements of bizarre and humorous situations that will trigger your senses and will appeal to the imagination. If our anti hero will succeed? Well, that is the big question isn't it? Expect nailbiting cliffhangers and even a hint of romance. Because love is everything as we all know.

Concluded

One thing is for sure. I would never abandon my love of writing and will always keep doing it. If I sit down again, and allow myself to just write. No beginning, no middle, no end; I wonder what I may find. Maybe I will actually get back into that flow.
Because remember? I started to write like this.
Eventually that is how my stories went into full development. 

If you are a writer of stories, and may have any advice concerning starting to write a fictional book, I would love to hear from you.
Don't forget to leave links to your blogs in the comments below and I will return any love shared!

All my love,
Rainbow
 

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Unlimited dreaming - writing a book

Finding your divine inspiration

This Wednesday wisdom I would like to talk about finding your divine inspiration.
I would like to mention that this is another post that is inspired by Liz Gilbert, who wrote a wonderful book about creative living that is called 'Big Magic'
 
There is a point at which many writers may arrive that we all fear and it's a writers block. 
You seem to be out of ideas and no matter how you dig you cannot come up with your next best idea for a post, a project, or anything. We feel stuck.
At which point we get scared that we may never get a great idea again.
 
Here is my theory on inspiration. It's a little bit of Liz and a little bit of myself.
 
Let me start by introducing the following idea of Liz to you:
Imagine inspiration being an energy that knocks on your door and says: hey, I am this wonderful idea that needs to be worked out. 
So we receive this idea and if we make the decision to be open to the inspiration and actually work it out, we may answer to inspiration. 

But let's say the writer block happens and we answer it with fear. Fear is as Liz points out the voice that will shoot each and every idea down. This is a little what the voice of fear may sound like: 

-'It's all been done before' 
-'People will think I'm stupid'
-'This may not be interesting enough.'
-'People will think I'm a copy cat'
-'I may never be succesful'
-'It's not perfect yet'

And best believe that is how you find yourself stuck and empty! 

I believe that fear is what will block or inspiration from ever reaching us. So, that this spark of inspiration cannot reach us. It's because we reject it through fear. When I wrote my post last Wednesday on why to continue blogging even when you are frustrated, I already pointed out that there's no one like you. You are authentic. This is something to keep in mind!

One important thing to realize about fear is the following it has a function to keep us safe and alive. But it doesn't know the difference between actual life danger: 'don't go down that dark alley'  and when there is no real danger.
Liz says: "Respect your fear, thank it for keeping you safe. Just never let it make decisions when you are doing something creative. It does not get to be in the drivers seat" 

I believe there is an important key to respecting fear in order to unblock it.
So here's something that you could do. You could imagine fear being a person or figure. Just allow an image to pop up in your head. Mine looks a little like a little hairy, black fluffy monster. Say: "Thank you for wanting to keep me safe. However it doesn't help when you are mingling in my creativity. So, please move to the background." and watch it stepping back. this is a trick that is actually used by psychology. It sounds silly, but works wonders!
Now that we've dealt with fear, let's move on to the next step.

So, how do we draw inspiration back to us like a magnet? Well, after our rejection we are going to have to seduce it a little eh?
This is by the way also what Liz suggests. First of all, get out of those comfy pants and put on something decent. Suit up, sisters and brothers!
Unless you get most inspired  by being in your comfy pants, or plan to blog about it. In which both cases please stay in by all means.

Here's some ideas to get you going:
(which I will work out in the next few Wednesdays for you, so be sure to come back. This will now be another series.)

Have a little brainstorm session with yourself. 
Allowing any idea to run freely. That is really the only rule to brainstorm. You don't block anything that comes to mind, even if it sounds bonkers. You know what the mad hatter would say: 'we're all mad here'. Put the words: my blog in the middle and put words around it that associate. From those words, more words will come to mind. You may even build it out into a mindmap. 

Get inspired by others
I was inspired by the book Big magic and miss Gilbert's wonderful fresh vibes to write this. 
Does that make me a copy cat? NO! I wrote it in my very own style. Read other bloggers, read an interesting interview, or watch a video by somebody that inspires you. 

Use the outside world to get inspired 
Go take a walk and tell us what you find. Your fave coffee house, the atmosphere of the neighbourhood, that awesome vintage store. You name it!

Ask others to help
Ask a friend what to blog about next. Hey, sometimes we need some help.

What would your favourite superhero do?
Ask yourself how your favourite superhero would tackle this search for inspiration.
An out of the box technique that will deliver some interesting results, I promise.

Find a questionnaire and surround a blog post around one of the questions.
Generally the more crazy the question is, the better. I like having something unusual to read.

Now that I've shared some inspiration sources, I am very curious about yours.
What do you use to get inspired? Do you have a number 1 rule that always has success?
Happy creating, my lovelies!

Love and blessings,
Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Finding your divine inspiration

Unlimited dreaming - The cooking club for kids

I was thinking of doing a little series about my dreams.
Things in life that I really would like to do and achieve. Rainbow's dreamy cloud is not only about a colorful lifestyle, but also about dreaming big.

In this first episode I will introduce you to this dream of mine to start a cooking club with kids professionally.

Why?
 
I love cooking. I was working with kids for a good deal of years. In the last place I worked I introduced 'my kids' to my little cooking club. With limited materials such as only one pit to cook on, and a few tiny pots I wanted to shift the idea of that we would always have to make things from a sugary baking pack. Sure, making cupcakes is a bunch of fun, but I was going for meeting the company's requirements in that we would offer more healthy food.
 
How did I do it?

I did this with kids above the age of 8.
I brought some fresh herbs, stock, tomato's, carrots, onions, and garlic and explained the kids that we were going to make tomato soup that doesn't come from a pack. I walked them through my golden rules:

1. Protect your hand when you cut by tucking in your fingers.
2. You never go near an oven or stove without adult supervision.
3. You can always add spices. But once they are in, they cannot be taken out.
4. Taste before serving. 

After I introduced them to the ingredients of the soup. We talked about them, sniffed the fresh basil. "Hmmm doesn't this smell amazing to start with?" I asked the kids about the basil. Now, I don't know whether they were trying to give me an answer I wanted to hear but they all agreed. I explained that the herbs are what makes whatever you cook magical. I then asked them about the garlic. They thought the smell was too strong. I then continued to say that this garlic is in a lot of things they eat and it's one of those 'herbs' that just smells fantastic once it's in a dish combined with other things. 

I walked them through the combination of the carrot, onion, garlic as a base for our soup. I left out celery this time because it can be a thing kids respond strongly to. To be honest I would actually put it in the soup if they weren't looking and blend the soup so well that they wouldn't know at first that it was in. A little parenting tip from me: anything that's hidden in a dish, they will be more likely to at least try to eat it.
I then divided the cutting tasks between the kids. I asked who was brave enough to cut the onions and a few boys raised their hand. I grinned a little bit to be honest, because they have not been introduced yet to the veggie that makes you cry.

I had written the recipe out for them, and supervised while they were cooking it.
I believe in giving kids as much freedom as they can handle and to offer support where needed. I would never leave them alone with a sharp knife or near a stove. But I will let them use the sharp knife and keep guiding them through using it safely.

I let them make the base of the soup, put in the stock, and had them add a can of tomato's and the fresh herbs. One kid decided that it may work with dried herbs as well and put in a little bit of Italian spice mix and salt and pepper. Like I said they did pretty much everything, but under my supervision. Before serving I gave all the kids a spoon and asked if they were satisfied with the taste. One kid opted that a few basil leaves should be added and so we did. The results were beautiful.
















And guess what? They all loved this tomato soup. Even the kids that told me they didn't like tomato soup.
So why would you reckon this happens? It's because when you involve kids in the complete process of preparing the food you make and have them help they will appreciate it more. I believe in introducing them to fresh ingredients that go in our food and bringing it with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Trust me that this helps. The kids started asking me pretty much every week if we were going to do more cooking.
Following up: I would ask the kids what we were going to make the next week. I had them look for a recipe, make a shopping list, took them to the supermarket and we would get our cooking on.

The future dream

Here's my vision. Since I stopped working with children there's this burning desire to go back and do it all over again.
I know really going back is not an option, so I would like to have this place that has all the materials I need to bring my vision alive. Such as big working surfaces, enough cooking pits, pots and pans, kitchen machine, blender, mixer and of course a pantry full of necessities.

My mission in a nutshell:
- Get kids involved with the food they eat.
- Make them proud of accomplishing something they see as a task for adults. By giving them freedom, but under the supervision of an adult.
- Help them to be familiar with all sorts of fresh ingredients.
- Introduce cooking as something magical where you create.
- Having them understand and appreciate the foods they consume.
- My hope: that kids that have a mixed relationship with body image versus food will enjoy healthy and homemade food.

I would work with a group of maximum 8-10 kids. I would adjust my lessons to the age group of course.
And I would like to work with a theme related workshop. Think about making the sauces that kids love from scratch. A home made ketchup? Yes! Garlic sauce? Yum!
I would prepare food with them that goes well with their homemade things.
We could also do a the theme: unfamiliar foods. Things that you just don't eat every day and discovering new veggies and fruits.
I think food and cooking is a big part of the upbringing. If you teach kids to expand their horizon on one level you can also bring this as a little life lesson. Just like trying new foods, we try new things in life generally.
 
So there it is: my big dream
A cooking club with kids. I hope you enjoyed the first episode of my series - unlimited dreams. 

What is a dream that you would like to achieve? 
Don't be afraid to dream out that vision. Show it to me! 

Love and blessings,
Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Unlimited dreaming - The cooking club for kids

Why to continue blogging even when you are frustrated

When I was thinking of doing my post for the wednesday I realized for the first time that I didn't know right away what I wanted to write about.
I am used to ideas that just keep coming into my mind. I am barely ever without inspiration.
When I stopped to think about why this was occuring, I think that it was probably the stress of the last week that has caused me to come to a temporarily pause.
Then I remembered seeing a few tweets from fellow bloggers about the frustration that occurs when they feel like nobody's reading you.
For those of you who feel that, I have only request: please keep blogging
 
Here's why I want you to continue:



You have an authenticity that needs to be shared. 

Nobody can write about a topic in exactly your style. Forget about the: it's all been done before. Choose what you want to write about and do it with love and care. Like Liz Gilbert points out: 'Do you think Shakespear was original? No, he totally stole from older stories' 

Your blog is your space

And why would you want to give that up? It is your stage to share whatever you feel needs to be shared. You can write whatever it is that soars your soul. How wonderful to even have that space.

Your writing will improve

Thinking about words and which you choose is an incredibly powerful things. If you compare your blog to when you just started, you may find yourself a whole different writer. That does not only come in handy for your blog, but it also is a practical skill to have to daily life. You may need it for a job, school, or your own business.
Embrace the writing! Oh yes...

It changes your relationship with inspiration and creativity.

Our creativity develops. We human beings are all creative, because we create.
When I speak of creativity I do not just mean the ability to paint, dance, write. It is so much more than that. It is being open and full of wonder. Looking at the same thing from all kinds of angles and discovering something new about that same thing each and every time. This is how you invite inspiration to come in. Being open to all sorts of perspectives.

Self reflection

I think most bloggers have done at least one of these posts. The other day I stumbled across Corinne's blog who did a self-reflection in time travel style. So, cool!
I am a fan of the time travel theme so that piece of creative reflection really spoke to me.
The other day I did a reflection on the things I learned from having my jobs.
It was a big eye opener for me. I didn't even realize before the post that I'd come so far.

Meeting lovely and supportive people

Come on, let's face it. You are meeting beautiful people in the community. I am sure there's some drama, (which I completely ignore, because so not worth my time and energy!) but overall I am enjoying myself so much. I am getting this lovely feedback, and I am amazed by other's creativity. What a heck of a reason to continue eh?
Here's some of the people I enjoy for you.
Eena writes about her travels. She has an amazing writing style and really takes you on the trip with her.
Bexa has such lovely and fresh vibes. She is a supporter of small businesses and I enjoy her positive spirits.
Lena is an incredible artist and blogs so many of these feel-good and self-love articles. We really need those, don't we gals & pals?
Envy is me fellow Dutchie! She has incredible authenticity and a wicked sense of humor. What are you waiting for? Go read her blog!
Andrea blogs books. The best thing is that her reviews are spoiler free. Nobody like's a spoiler. She seriously made me want to read more books. Ok. ok. I haven't gotten around to the fictional ones yet, but right now I'm devouring a fair amount of books on the topics of creativity. I just love learning more!
Han inspires people with her personal anonymouse letters blog. A safe space to share what needs to be shared. Her writing is brave and bold and I very much applaud it.

Hey and you know what? If you need some encouragement, you can always drop me a line.
I like to be part of the supportive bunch.
I hope I may have inspired you to keep that blogging on!
What are your reasons to stay here and blog? Share the love and inspiration.
People will thank you for it.

Mucho love, 

Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Why to continue blogging even when you are frustrated

How to shift your mind to focusing on the good stuff

We all have these days where nothing seems to go right.
We get out of bed and bump our toe. We make a cup of coffee, but you end up with something that looks like tea and does not even resemble the taste of coffee because the filter folded in your machine. You get to work. Late of course, because there was a never ending traffic jam. Therefor our boss is upset with us because we didn't give them a call. (Driving and calling? Nope) 
That co-worker seems extra snotty today and we are in a horrible mood by afternoon.
 
Everybody would have experienced the above or at least their own version of it.
And those days can feel like heavens especially selected us to be picked on that day. If we do not shift our minds it is just a big spiral downward from there.
 
Luckily for me it doesn't happen that much anymore. But today I caught myself thinking. 'O my god, these customers are hags and trolls. It's going to be a day like that.'
But then I stopped. I listened to myself picking up the phone and realize that my voice wasn't quite as cheerful and light as it usually is.
It would make sense that customers would react to that way of introducing myself. The first thing I did was to make myself smile and adjust my voice back to light and cheerful.
By changing my tone, I started to change my day. 
I had to deal with a few more difficult customers but showed tons of empathy, patience and willingness to help. 
By afternoon my day had turned around and I no longer felt the need to press my mute button and let out all of sorts creative swearings that do happen on a customer service workfloor.
Sidenote: please be patient with friendly customer service people that do their jobs and actually want to help.

But how did I turn my day around exactly? I realized that being moody was just not going to cut it and decided to shift my mind to focusing on the good stuff.
Here's a few things that may help.

Start out your day positive

I am not exactly a peach in the morning. I need to have time to wake up properly.

I like to start out my day with a morning uplift from The honest guys. They make beautiful visualisations on youtube and I just love listening to them!
It will only take about 5 minutes and you will feel so much better. This I promise you.

You may also want to set some intentions for your day and focus on those.
You could write them down on little post it notes and look at them once in a while.

Keep in mind that intentions are not the same as your to do-list. Whilst your to-do list may be the important things that you need to get done, an intention is more of a statement.

An example of one of my intentions:

I practice random acts of kindness everyday.

 
Practice little moments of mindfulness

I wrote about mindfulness before. It just helps to plan in little mini breaks and see how you are feeling at this particular moment. Rushing through the day is not going to do you and people around you any good. By taking that mini break and really listen to myself I found that my tone of voice needed a change.
On my next mini break I found that I was probably too impatient and refocused on showing more of that. Instead of spiraling down, my day went up from there.

Acceptance

A big key in mindfulness is acceptance. Sometimes you just need to accept the present moment and deal with it with more awareness. Make it a thing. It's essential if you want to know how to shift your mind into focusing on the good stuff!
Realize that there's 99% of how you react to things that can make all the change. Your attitude towards it is key. You will not be able to control that traffic jam, but when you get frustrated you are only losing precious energy. Maybe put on nice music, or use the time to come up with new, creative ideas.

Put your qualities to work

Do you realize that you have your own amazing and unique skill set of qualities?
Why not use them to shift your day? Today my customers clearly needed some extra patience, empathy and friendly help.
I know that all of those I am able to do and I can make somebody's day better.
Well hopefully, because it is entirely upto them if their day goes uphill from there.
But I know that I tried my best to do my part.

Keep a victory log

We simply do not give ourselves enough credit, do we?
Day in, day out we just try our very best to be good people.
Why not challenge yourself to write down as many victories as you possibly could?
Your victories might be different to mine. But I like to take my whole life on board and just write down what I'm proud of really.
For today mine are: 
-I became aware of my voice, and changed my day.
-I had a healthy lunch salad.
-I did a kind thing for a coworker. Well, maybe a couple of kind things
-I made it my intention to do my conversations with care and effeciency, and it worked! 
-I am writing this blog and being so much more consistent.
-I stuck to my coffee limit. (oh yes, it is a challenge!)

Count your blessings

At the end of the day I like to think about the things I feel grateful for. I do this before going to bed. I think about things that went well that day, compliments I received, and I can feel a deep amount of gratitude for the things I have. Even the things that many of us would count as most basic. I have a roof over my head, I get to take a warm shower, we have food in the house.

So there you go!
A how to shift your mind to focusing on the good stuff guide for you.

What do you find that helps getting you into a positive mind set?

Love and blessings,
Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

How to shift your mind to focusing on the good stuff

Prepping your lunchsalades

If like me, you are a busy bee you might want to consider prepping your lunchsalades before the your work week starts. It ensures me that I eat healthy and nutricious foods. And in the morning I don't have to worry about what to eat which saves me time and stress so I can just get around to my morning routine.
I usually make sure that I have enough for 2 or even 3 days. Then in the middle of the week I prep my additional lunch salades in the evening for the next few days.
And because I like variety in my food I make different kinds of salades so that I have something to look forward to each and every day.

What you need before prepping your lunch salades:

Getting inspired

We have so many unloved cookbooks in our bookcase so I went ahead and took some time to select 5 salades for the week ahead that I would like to try. I made a list for these. I also take the supermarkets special offers into mind when I select my salades. Because it is nice not to overspend.
I wrote on this list:

• Which salad
• The book
• The page
• A list of ingredients 

Of course the internet is also a great source for inspiration.
And if you have a good idea of which ingredients combine well together you may even come up with your own creative ideas to try.

Basic ingredients

When you go shopping it's good to have a list of some basic ingredients that you will use in your salades. For your dressings I suggest to have the following in the cupboard:

• A good quality olive oil (it really makes so much difference) 
• White wine vinegar 
• Red wine vinegar 
• Balsamic vinegar  
• Lemon juice 
• Honey 
• Ground black pepper  
• Seasalt 
• Italian style herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary) 
• Garden style herbs (chives, parsley)
• Low-fat greek or thick yoghurt.  

I also usually have a few things in my fridge and cupboard such as different types of salad leaves, cucumber, garlic, red onion, white onion, tomato, dried wholeweat pasta, rice and couscous
 
  Make a list and shop

Simply include your ingredients for the salades on a shopping list. This will ensure that you do not forget anything important. I've been there. That I was missing a key ingredient that would have made my salad much tastier. Trust me, I was bummed out.
So, don't you forget that list! 

Getting chopping and putting your salades together
 
I like to take all the veggies and chop them according to my wishes or the recipe's instructions before I put my salades together. A little mise en place makes it much more organized. If there is any wet veggies that will make the whole salad a watery mess I keep those seperate in a little box so I can add them last. Right before I eat it.

The same counts for the dressing. You don't want any soggy business to ruin your beautiful salad. I suggest you keep your dressing apart and drizzle it in when you are about to eat your salad.

Prepping your lunchsalades is a really rewarding thing to do.
If you don't already do this, I can really advice it.
A guaranteed healthy lunch and such a time-saver!

If you have any additional tips and tricks I may not have mentioned, I would love to hear them from you.

Love and blessings,

Rainbow

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Prepping your lunchsalades