Life Is Crafted

I used to think the 🤫 gesture meant ‘Hello!’ because that’s how my (loving but unaware) father would greet me every time I saw him during the day.

He worked in 5 star hotels around the world and we often lived in them as our home.

Logically I understand that you don’t want to see the daughter of the General Manager running and screaming in the lobby.

But toddler Arienne built a belief that she wasn’t allowed to express her feelings or needs. The needs of others were always much more important than hers. She had to shrink and dim herself to be acceptable to others 🥺 Hmmm, I wonder if it caused any of the issues I’ve had to deal with as an adult?!????

So…

For those of us who shrink.
Who sacrifice parts of ourselves to make others comfortable.
Who believe we are too much.
Or believe we are not enough.

Your wants. Your needs. Your personality. Your laugh. Your tears. Your thoughts. Your feelings. Your fears. Your shame. Your flaws. Your strengths. Your values. Your successes. Your ideas. Your opinions. Your body. Your style. Your presence. Your belonging. Your expression…

YOU - Your whole unique self - is allowed to take up space in this world.

This is a major lesson I’ve been learning over and over and over again. And I’m still learning and having many opportunities to exercise this muscle after a lifetime of playing ‘safe’ and small.

Little Arienne, you are allowed to be here, just as much as everyone else. You are so important. You are actually allowed to have your needs and wants expressed and met. You don’t need to be perfect and change who you are to make others comfortable. It is safe to be yourself. Not everyone will like you. That is life. YOU have to like you. You are with yourself every moment of every day. So, without doing harm to others, listen to yourself first.

If any of this resonates put a 🫵🏼 below ❤️❤️❤️

When you craft a life you love, you’re listening to that inner voice that is sharing with you its hopes, dreams and strengths.

You’re honouring it amongst all the messages, opinions, biases, cultural norms and societal standards that are shouting at you (often with love from those that really care about us).

You’re choosing Yourself in the midst of fear, worry, going against the grain, risk, challenges, differences. Bold and Brave!

You’re following your joy, recognising what inspires and lifts you up and prioritising what’s really important to you.

Such a big lesson I’m still learning. I recommit to it every day. It’s not always easy, but it gets easier with each opportunity to choose what the ‘real me’ wants.

As a people pleaser and lifelong chameleon🦎- changing the way I show up to make the people around me comfortable, often at the expense of my own comfort 🥴 - I’’ve made many choices that were not for my personal benefit because I thought that was the ‘right’ choice.

Unfortunately the cost of that was a lot of my self esteem and a big disconnection from my authentic self. I’ve rediscovered many of what MY needs and wants are and my life is ssoooooooooo much better for it!

Are there parts of your life where you could be bolder in designing a life YOU love?

Right?? They all pop into your head as you’re dropping off to sleep.

The worst is that one that that panic surges through your body and shocks you to full alertness 😬🤯🤦🏻‍♀️

An information capture system is a place where you can IMMEDIATELY take a note whenever a To Do comes up. It could be:
📝 a piece of paper you keep handy,
🗒️ a notebook you carry with you,
📆 your planner,
☑️ an App that handles tasks or reminders,
📲 notes in phone.

Capturing this information during the day means that your bed can become a magical place for sleep 🙌🏽💤😴🛌

Sweet dreams!!

Dear Life Crafters,

The 2022 PLAYBOOK is here! I wrote this in the Playbook intro and just thought I'd put it here as it's introduction too:

2022 is just around the corner! Time moves on regardless of who you are or whatever is happening in the world. This is a reminder to you of how precious every day can be.

Completing these pages each year is an opportunity to see how far you've come, how you've changed, and what is important to you now. I know I'm not the same person from 12 months ago. Some things remain the same, but other priorities have really become evident and such wonderful, positive things have come out of them.

The magic comes from becoming really aware of what is going on around and inside of you. Then getting intentional and making decisions that support you.

Your needs are truly important. Your dreams are required in this world. Your reflections bring learning and clarity and direction. Honour all of these by investing your time to understand and express them. Then joyfully bring them to life.

Life is truly crafted by YOU. Craft yours.

With Love
Arienne
www.etsy.com/listing/763579961/2022-year-planning-workbook-2022-goals

The Playbook for 2022 is coming early December!

I'm keeping it simple (the new philosophy I'm trying on for all of life!) and doing PDF calendar layouts again for 2022. If you have a specific design or layout you'd like, please let me know and I'll make it happen. Feel free to DM me or message below!

I had to laugh when I say this in my feed... I have felt this many times!

A planner can make it better, but sometimes it helps to be discerning on what to allow on your To Do list

An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing. - Dale Carnegie

Imagine if you did this for all the wonderful and amazing things you want in your LIFE?!??

Planning doesn’t have to be BORING! It’s an opportunity to dream out your vision and look at the details now (and maybe even experience a little of that future in the present moment.

To the growing and the building.

One thing I’m learning is to slow down. So much growth comes from BEING. The most productive DOING comes after.

First day of AUTUMN OR SPRING? Regardless, it’s March everywhere!

Which means it’s a beautiful time to do your month in review for February.

This is your opportunity to go through the happenings of the last 28 days and celebrate, learn from or let go of what you experienced (or didn’t experience).

- What are 3 things you feel really grateful for this month?
- Go through your calendar and write out the highlights, events and activities you did. This can really concrete in what you did do (as opposed to you beating yourself up for doing ‘nothing’!) and show you if there are some patterns in where you spent your time.
- What were your Wins for the month? What were you proud of or surprised by?
- do a life audit and rate the different areas out of 10. No judgement! This just gives you a chance to check in and have an overview of where you’re currently at.
- Choose the main area of life you’d like to spend some extra time and attention on for next month.
- take a moment to note down the songs, meals, outfits, trends, happenings you’ve been loving on. This can be memory sparking to look back on in years to come.
- note down a lesson you’ve learned
- choose one thing to stop and to start doing
- then the more admin side of things. Move incomplete items to next month or to your master to do list. Transfer any scribblings and notes to helpful places. Tick off the goals you’ve accomplished and CELEBRATE!

Comfort zone expanded.

This happened on an early February morning. The alarm went off at 4.45am and for a split second I wanted to stay in the warmth and comfort of my bed.

But the decision I’d made the evening before - to do something different and out of my comfort zone - came back to spark the commitment I’d made.

Being a woman with two sisters and young daughter, I know there is a lot of messaging and pressure out there about body image and expectations.

Being a sensitive and self-aware person, I know there are experiences and programming that have caused us wounds in mind and soul.

I like to see myself as a life activist because I’m on a journey to wake up to who I truly am and how I show up and express myself in the world (and I love to help others do their version of it).

And I feel like I’m rising again from a dulled, muted, fear-filled version of me - through challenging anxiety experiences, understanding why people may choose other paths and the transition in motherhood - to whoever that vibrant Arienne truly is.

with *t and .rees with are helping sisters rise. We showed up and let the bellies free and supported each other. I felt alive.

And while the sand was freezing, the water was divine. The swim and camaraderie and feeling of power and shifts were priceless.

Plus I got to do it with Katie 😍

Main pic by the gorgeous who was amazingly uplifting before 6am in the morning.

What do you need to inject some high vibes in your life/body/mind? Do it today!
💗 Arienne