In this time of stillness, let us remember our humanness

'Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness.'

In our humanness, we have forgotten

We have spent what feels like a lifetime moving so quickly that we have forgotten to stop and pause, to take a breath and remind ourselves what remains in the quiet amidst the stillness. What has been in plain sight that we have continually dismissed; as we race towards an invisible finish line

There is a wide open space in the in between that carries with it a voice we have ignored. It has asked us ever so gently, whispering to please take a moment each morning before we begin our day; to sit in gratitude for all that is. From the comfort of the beds we sleep in, to the sounds of footsteps from our family and pets that are greeting us when we wake. Or for some, the joy they find in the solitude of their space

It has asked us to notice the morning light that spills into our windows and the subtle sounds outside our homes. The books that line our shelves, waiting to fill us with imagination and intrigue us till our minds are blown. The food that fills our cupboards and allows us to share a meal with the ones we love, or the simple generosity that comes from the stranger holding the door.

These subtle hints have been there for us all along; they have been given in moments throughout our days, yet we have moved from task to task as if the act of constant movement would somehow ease our tired minds. Planning ahead, thinking ahead, always doing, yet not truly being

We have forgotten the truth that we are interconnected; all beings across all countries. That our lives are lived separately, but are deeply woven together in ways we have misunderstood

There is a bridge that unites us more than it divides, asking to be driven with sincere compassion, understanding, and love. It does not react with force or judgment, but rather moves with grace and ease; and when we slow down to take in the views it offers, magic begins to appear

It has the capacity to reset, rejuvenate, restore, and remarkably heal, the voice that was once whispering has now begun to shout. We have been thrown into a situation to help us see more clearly, to see what has been within our grasp all along

In this time of quiet and stillness, choose to lean into that voice that has shown us the resiliency of our human spirit. The generosity of our neighbours, the love circling our homes, and the natural healing of our planet as we have allowed her to finally breathe

In our humanness, let's remember that collectively, our energy can move us forward in the way we have been meant to move, with intention, clarity, alignment, and love

In our humanness, let’s remember all we have forgotten

STOP letting your life slip by you

'life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all'

As I sit here, trying to write something inspirational, I realize that nothing inspirational has happened to me in the past few months. Nothing substantial has happened. I haven’t written anything I’m proud of, I haven’t experienced some spontaneous declaration of love, and I haven’t had my heart broken either. I haven’t felt anything that made my heart tingle, nor felt butterflies awaken in my stomach; because I have spent every single day doing the same monotonous thing over and over again. I have no inspiration because I am not inspiring myself. I am not looking after myself. I am not feeding my soul. Instead, I am waking up every single morning and doing the same thing repeatedly and I am willingly allowing it to suck the life out of me. We all do it.

And we don’t have anyone else to blame, it is our fault. We all so easily fall into the trap of living until the next set of big plans or our yearly holiday and forget that every single day is a day out of our lives. A day we don’t get back. A day that we will look back on with regret; because every day, we let time pass by that we can never get back. We don’t have time to sit and wait for inspiration to come and smack us in the face. We should be out there looking for it, spending every single day the same way we spend Christmas or our birthday. Why do we confine ourselves to only celebrate life on days designated on our calendars?

So go out and talk to random strangers in the street. Perform random acts of kindness just because you can. Pick up a book and read because you want to. Exercise. Fill your body with endorphins because it deserves it. Wake up early to see the sun rise. Make pancakes on a Tuesday. Put your Christmas tree up in November. Start writing a novel. Text your friends for no reason. Stop declining offers to socialise. Write everything down that you are grateful for. Allow yourself to live, because we all owe it to ourselves to turn off Netflix, stop blaming everything else for our lack of inspiration, and seize every single day so that one day we don’t look back at all the opportunities we missed. So let’s get our souls back. Our souls that are filled with everything that makes our life worth living; and we'll be able to look back and know that we lived every day with gratitude, love, and vigor.

Em

always Remember

'sometimes we get so caught up in trying to accomplish something big, that we fail to notice the little things that give life its magic'

when the right song is playing and you ate a good meal today and you’ll never be this young again but you’ll also never be this old and your friends are earth angels and solitude is bliss and every love you’ve experienced was valid no matter how it ended and everyday you are further away from your traumas and everyday you are touching new things whether tangible or imagined and you have a whole library of songs that can take you back to different moments and feelings instantly like actual real life time travel and your heart is full and willing and mistakes happen but so do perfectly timed perfectly executed moments and dogs exist and bugs exist and plants exist and sometimes you need someone and sometimes you need things and sometimes you don’t have a clue what you need but sometimes all you need is yourself and your tender senses that may bring you pain but are equally, if not more so, open to bringing you deep pleasure.

- gabi abrao