ladyfjournal

[ladyfjournal]

What Does the Perfect January Look Like?

Reading romantic books next to the fireplace, with the TV turned on showing Scenic Relaxation videos.

Having real, melted hot chocolate, hugging in the bed in your pyjamas. A cat purring on your knees. Drawing in the afternoons, exercising in the mornings. Having muffins with your tea. Visiting Grandma and making her day. Hugging strange people in your winter coat on the main street. Maybe flying on a broom. Making snow angels with your best friend. Being really productive and creative - drawing, painting, dancing, laughing, lovemaking, writing, doodling, logging, listing and all that fun. Cooking delicious, various, exotic things. Art challenges, photography challenges, gratitude journal, praying, meditation, affirmations, delicious desserts several times. A walk under the falling snowflakes. Being joyful and playful.

[ladyfjournal]

One thing about Winter that I am Grateful for

Okay, it's the most beautiful season of all.

Not only because of the snow but also the wreaths on the doors, the cozy corners with the Christmas tree, the plates with gingerbread men, and the family being together. Christmas illuminates winter like a torch. But Christmas has long since passed, it is the beginning of February and I still keep enjoying winter. In only 13 days is one of my favorite holidays - St. Valentine's Day. We will exchange hearts and hugs. The best thing about winter is the cozy spots with family and friends. The warm beverages with books. The sense of new beginning, that January gives, the romance, that February bestows on us. It's a mild winter here and I am enjoying every day as if it's my last. I feel the balance and joy of the winter season and I am absolutely in love with the "unforgiving minute." Time passes by and I am grateful for every breath.

[ladyfjournal]

Three Skills that You Could Be Grateful for

New hopes and dreams every new season.

Actually following your hopes and dreams with actions

Being happy and grateful for the results of your actions.

[ladyfjournal]

What's New This Month?

Direction.

Productivity is no longer wishful thinking. I am spending my time doing things that I like, creating stuff I really enjoy and everything makes sense now. Creative efforts are heaping and my treasury of works is growing. It makes me really happy to see these works coming to life. They are small attempts done with a lot of love and bringing great joy. Last month I was wondering what to do for hours. Lists changed everything. First I made an extensive list for the goals this year. Then I made a list of projects based on that goals. I started breaking the projects in chunks and performing on them. Voila - I am one step closer to everything I ever dreamt of and I feel so accomplished! It's heaven!

[ladyfjournal]

My Thoughts about the New Year

Dear Year of the Wooden Dragon,

Welcome to my life. May you bring happiness and luck! May I fill my journal with wonderful achievements. May I prosper and be healthy, and may I spend more time with my loved ones. May I be happy, merry and bright. I hope for more activities that leave something behind me and change my life tremendously, which is why I started making videos for an online vlog. Everything makes sense now and the world is suddenly more profound and full of miracles. This year really came to bring joy, splendor, and balance, so I welcome and greet it with love. Really, something new is awaiting me around the corner, and I can feel now all the changes I ever dreamt of are taking place now...now is the time to live. Dear 2024 what hope you carry on your wings!

[ladyfjournal]

Who do I Want to Spend Time with?

That would be my mom. She is always there for me. In the worst moments of my life, I go to her and ask her to make some tea for me. It always does its magic. My mother is an angel. She is so caring, lovable, and worrying about me all the time. She is the person, who tells me "I love you!" more often than anyone else. Whatever my tribulations are - writing or the dentist, she is always with me, supportive and wishing for good. We are so good together. I love doing small errands with Mom. It's a pleasure to spend my time with her doing anything. I love buying clothes for her and surprising her. I strive to make a present for her every holiday. She thinks I am talented, and even if she is the only person who thinks that - it still matters to me. I want her to be happy - this is why I started caring about home more than I used to because she loves spending time at home and the design and coziness are important to her. She is the reason I want to feel grounded and I face my challenges with boldness. And I am going to conquer the world with one hand because she always holds the other one.

[ladyfjournal]

A Fresh Start in January

This year January started slowly. It is true - one can't change from one day to the next. But slowly and deliberately - three weeks after the month embarked, change is now observable. I have made the most extensive lists of goals, interests, activities, projects, ideas, and tasks and a bucket list. I have filled in 10 pages of projects that are waiting for their time to be broken down into chunks and finally launched. I am thankful for my level of productivity - when I do all kinds of meaningful things in a day. The results of my actions are books, family albums and albums with prayers, videos, and slideshows, meditations, learning new stuff, books read, films watched, collections, time outside, home coziness, blogs, routines, new information, communication with Mom, diaries, collages, illustrations, drawings, paintings, meditations, listening to music and taking care. Thank you, January for being such a bountiful month! I see results everywhere and I feel accomplished every single day - the difference from the past years is I never wonder what to do, and there is a creative flow that carries me on its wings to a life worth living. Thank you, January, 2024!

[ladyfjournal]

What Inspires me?

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things

Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes Silver-white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things

If I have to make a list of the things that inspire me, I will start with good manners. Kindness is the attitude of kings and queens. I love describing beautiful landscapes and pretty people. I like writing very much, although it is probably the hardest thing. I like the sense of power and concentration drawing and painting art gives me. I like being focused and productive. Listening to music is a great source of inspiration. I adore making lists and especially like taking action on them. I love filling in my notebook calendar - it gives me a sense of accomplishment and guides me. It's great being organized and finding the time to doodle a little. I like using everything I own. I love lighting candles and aroma sticks. I have a beautiful icon of the Virgin Mary and little Christ, oh, how I adore Christ! I love being touched and hugged in a firm grip by some people. I wish I knew how their kiss tasted as well. I'm in love with loving!

[ladyfjournal]

It is Already Autumn

I used to be a wunderkind. I was three years old when I learned how to read. The first book I read was The Greek Mythology, and I have been fascinated with myths ever since. When I was 5 years old, I starred in a TV show for talented children with a small poem I had written about Autumn, which translated literally goes like this:

It is autumn already. The leaves are falling. It is oh so sad In the forest.

No flowers, No birdsong, It is already fall. It is already fall.

I had longer poems of course, but nobody believed they were written by me. So, one of the questions from the interview was: “What do you want to become when you grow up?” I answered: In the movie Mistral’s Daughter, Mistral addresses his daughter Fauve with the words: “Dear Fauve, you may not want to be a painter, but you are a painter. You have a talent, you don’t have a choice.” So I want to choose a profession I have talent for. Guess what my profession is now? Writing and teaching English and Creative Writing!

[ladyfjournal]

A Little Bit of History

The oldest recipe in the world is for beer and bread. In a glass of the intoxicating brew, we all love there are 10000 years of history.

People needed more barley to produce more beer. It was sipped by the hunter-gatherers and the pyramid builders, the pharaohs, the Vikings, and the Irish from pots, horns, skulls, or even golden straws. Beer is like liquid bread and some academics presume that people settled and started farming to ensure constant production of beer for their ancient festivals.

[ladyfjournal]

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone,    And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

If - by Rudyard Kipling