How to create a calm and joyous life

Back in 2010 when I started this blog, I wanted a place that I’d love to go to.  I imagined what kind of articles I’d love to read and how they would make me feel.  I wanted to feel inspired to create beauty and elegance in my life at the same time as still being me.  I am a very practical person who values simplicity and thrift.  I don’t like to be wasteful and I consider myself a good steward of my resources.

So my chic and elegant blog looked different to other chic and elegant blogs.  Mine wasn’t about shopping and dressing up, although I do love nice things.  I sometimes think to myself ‘hmmm, for a blog called ‘How to be Chic’, I don’t often write about clothing and appearances’ which is what ‘chic’ is most often thought of.  I think I tend to be drawn to 'chicness of the mind'.  Diana Vreeland said ‘the only real elegance is in the mind; if you've got that, the rest really comes from it’, and I think it’s so true.

I could dress in all the chic accoutrements such as a little black dress and pearls, channelling Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but if I slouched and was sloppy I would not be like Audrey at all.  Audrey was chic in the most casual of clothes and I think this is true of any of our chic iconic ladies throughout history.  Through their elegant demeanour, way of being and the way they are in the world, they bring chic to whatever they are wearing, as well as their surroundings.

I still love to remember the way I felt when I started this blog and of the way I wanted to be in the world, because even though it was almost six years ago and lots of things have changed, there are other things that have not changed at all.  If anything, I’ve become more of who I am – valuing simplicity, peace of mind, quietude and creativity.

When I write I want to bring these feelings to others around me too, to those who crave slowing down, feeling serene and wanting to enjoy their everyday.  Rather than wish for our lives to be completely different when things get hectic and we feel ground down, I prefer to identify and weed out those things that are adding to the noise so that I can enjoy the rest, thus creating a calm and joyous way of living.

It takes time and patience, and over the years I’ve worked on different pockets of my life, helping them to flow with more ease so I can feel more peaceful.  It’s not always easy and sometimes you have to feel selfish and put yourself first.  But the times I’ve done this I’ve realised the only selfishness registering was in my mind.  It’s mind-blowing to look back at something that I had to psych myself into doing and then once I’d done something about it… nothing happened, except that life felt better.  Something that comes to mind is bringing up doing something different at Christmas or for your annual vacation when you’ve traditionally done 'X'.

I now have a list where I add items that are slightly bothersome in my life.  Mostly they are little, and over time I can tick them off.  It might be as simple as clearing a perpetually cluttery corner or dropping off a stack of magazines to the hospital waiting room.  Making a hair or dentist appointment is something I often let lag and it stays on my to-do list for too long.  It’s just a phone call!

‘It’s not the mountain in front of you that gets you down, it’s the grain of sand in your shoe’ is a quote I often remember.  Fix up the little things that are prickling at the edge of your serenity and life will be smoother.

So, what’s on your list?