Hello my loves,

I’m excited to be back in your inbox! I’ve been a bit side-tracked the last two weeks, sucked deep into an almost home purchase involving interstate travel, hopes and dreams, and ultimately: disappointment. Yep, it was one of those times when life just doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, delivering a cold slap to the cheek with a wet salmon, rather than the victory parade you were after. Ugh.

Now, conceptually I know that all is on purpose. If that wasn’t the home for us, for reasons that might not be visible to me right now, I’m glad to have been guided to the right result. But people, I struggled with this one. I loved that house and the future I saw there. Emotionally, I’d already moved in, slow-roasted a lamb shoulder, tilled the vege beds, and soaked extensively in the claw-foot bath. As all that dissipated in a sad puff of smoke, I fell in a hole. And I couldn’t climb out. ‘I’ve been so patient!’, I raged. ‘I’ve done 2020. I’ve been really very good! Surely it’s time that something went right for meeee!’. Needless to say, it wasn’t a great week.

But then. The universe delivered a bolt from the blue, in the form of a pithy observation from a trusted advisor: ‘Do you realise that you’re putting your entire life on hold, waiting for something that you have absolutely no control over?’ .

Oh. Erm. Right. As I digested the news, I realised she had quite the point. Over the past few weeks I’d unconsciously placed myself into a holding pattern, not taking action on anything, and putting ideas on hold until my dream was delivered. It’s what is commonly known as a terrible approach. I’d created a one-track road to my future happiness, staked everything on it, and come up empty. No wonder I was struggling.

The good news is, I found a way out. Yes, we’re looking for a new home. No, we might not find it in a time frame that I have personally deemed acceptable. We’ll find it at exactly the right time. And until then, I’m going back to living my life. Making the now so unbelievably f-ing great that the when is simply a fluffy little cloud floating pleasantly on the periphery of my awareness. For me, that means making more time for creativity. For allowing ideas to blossom and grow right now, rather than batting them away to be reassessed when that thing that I want has happened. For realising that my current reality is just as it’s supposed to be, utterly perfect and the absolute best place I could be. For opening my eyes and gazing with wonder at the myriad of options available to me, for knowing how bloody lucky I am, and for choosing happiness, rather than yearning for it.

Because here’s the thing: the answer isn’t the house. Nor is it the job, the partner, the car, the holiday, or the new shoes you can’t quite afford. The answer is now. It is entirely, utterly, absolutely within your control to choose happiness right now. To choose gratefulness over scarcity, curiosity over control, a sense of adventure over a sense of lack. Life doesn’t always proceed as we’d like it to. But it always proceeds as it should. So strap in my darling, and give life’s engine a rev, then stick your head out the window and fly! Here in the now, right where it’s right for you, in this moment, this day and this week. And look out for me, flying along on my path, loop-the-looping round stars as I squeal and laugh. And so we go on, each safe in the now, grateful and growing and loved. I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a great weekend 🧡.

Love, Rachel xxx