A collection of all of my favourite things to inspire your daily mindful breaks.
I have always liked sharing snippets of my life with the universe to inspire a positive action or thought. On my Instagram account, I shared almost 3000 posts in the last 12 years (without counting the disappearing stories which I am sure have surpassed that number a long time ago). Occasionally someone reached out privately saying that my post inspired them to cook a healthy nutritious meal, to try a yoga class, to go for a run, to start cycling to work, to signup for the gym, to travel. I was delighted by conversations that started from a concert picture or video, a book or a quote. I appreciate those who start a conversation on the back of a post and those that don’t but silently keep following.
A few months back, over a coffee break, I was asked if I stopped practicing yoga. When I asked why, they told me because they haven't seen me post anything about it in a while and they lost the inspiration to do something good for themselves too. I was rather shocked and amused at the same time. Why? Firstly because I didn't know I was silently helping someone prioritise their wellbeing by posting my practice on social media. Secondly because it validated the need for more positive influence in this world. Yes, there are so many influencers out there but some people connect better with who they already know in real life. I never stopped practising yoga, but I forget to press play or snap a picture because I find myself in the present moment and social media is not the first thing that comes to mind when I step onto my yoga mat. Sometimes I go for a run or to the gym without my phone because I need to disconnect to reconnect with myself. When I feel the need to share a picture, words and emotions it's rather spontaneous and not programmed. Following on the interaction I shared above, a few weeks ago, I received a message saying “I love seeing your Strava! Such an effort and motivation for me xx” - it simply filled me with joy knowing that by sparing a few minutes to share my own personal and unique journey, day by day, I was in fact sharing my good habits, my successes and failures and making a positive real impact in someone else’s life without even knowing anything much about theirs. Why can we be bombarded by negative news and headlines every day and can’t instead focus on reading about a real life story, and perhaps embrace a new habit formation which will soon enough have a trickle down effect on other parts of our life? Social media is a weird world. Sometimes I feel the urge to express myself and write short essays instead of short captions. There are no rules, right? Or, well, there are rules and tricks you should follow if the goal is to “go viral”. Mine is not really that. It all started almost as a daily diary and then it changed as a money making machine for brands. I always preferred the more personal and one-to-one approach. So I thought to myself, I have my own website already... why don't I add a blog to it that allows me to be myself and share what I want, when I want, at my own terms, for those who truly want to read and feel inspired by my little life things.
I guess, this is true also in my private life. I love living life in my own terms, and always cringed at the lyrics of a famous 1990s Italian band “stessa storia, stesso posto, stesso bar” - which literally translates into “same story, same place, same bar”. Whilst my life could have very much been a monotonous repetition of words, people, places, it turned out I had other plans for myself. I enjoy my own company as well as planning to meet a friend or two in a new place in town, to travel and explore cultures through food, art, music, people and getting lost in the streets and alleys. Over the years, friendships transformed. I lost some, I found new. I always thought this a tough but normal part of our lives. As we all have transformative phases in life, when there is nothing left to share, old or new, so it happens that we move on and let go. Through this blog I seek to write to anyone interested in keeping in touch and feel inspired. I look forward to beautiful (easy or difficult) conversations that will arise.
This blog is created to inspire a mindful break in your life. Take what you need and scrap the rest. And if the content no longer inspires you at some point in the future, I won't be offended if you decide to part ways. For now, thank you for your curiosity and the will to be inspired by my little life adventures. Love, Emily xx
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