joyful gratitude

Indie bookstore love

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #5

20161125_151330I’m really grateful to have discovered the wonderful independent bookstore  Gogol & Company while I was visiting Milan last weekend. It’s the kind of place where you are greeted with a warm ‘Buongiorno!’ when you walk in, and you can hang out as long as you want on the comfy sofas and read the books, no questions asked.

It was the perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon by myself with no other place to rush off to… I really enjoyed just chilling, checking out their wonderful selection of books, soaking in the laid-back atmosphere and sampling their tasty food and coffee. Those few quiet hours left me feeling both deeply relaxed and energised:)

 

 

Team spirit

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #4

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We had a lovely team day with my colleagues to plan our activities for next year (and enjoy some energisers;). I had a really fun time and I’m so grateful for having such open-minded colleagues, with their creative ideas, constructive feedback and most importantly their great sense of humour!   We were lucky to enjoy this spectacular sunset in the Westerpark as the perfect end to our day:)

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Thanks a lot to Michaela A. for this pic of Eva and I being silly in the sunset!

Delicious warm soup

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #3

In these cold autumn days, I love taking the time to make healthy vegetable soup. Peeling and chopping the vegetables is like a form of meditation for me. Last weekend, I enjoyed a cosy evening of chatting with loved ones over a warm bowl of pumpkin soup and toasted bread and cheese. Mmmmmm!

Autumn colours

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #2

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I think autumn colours were created just to distract us from the fact that the days are getting shorter and it’s colder and rainier outside. I love seeing how the leaves change colour!

Those red leaves are real!! I admired them in the Japanese garden in the Leiden botanical garden last weekend. Imagine if that species of tree were planted all around our cities:) It would be so beautiful in November! I think urban planners should consider such things… maybe an alternative career plan;)

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Watching the sunrise

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JOYFUL GRATITUDE #1

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Stopping what I was doing to watch the sunrise (even if it was from the windy rooftop of our office building after making early morning calls to clients Down Under)

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Joyful gratitude

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One of my favorite writers, Brene Brown, describes in her book Daring Greatly how joy and gratitude are closely linked. What stood out for me in what she explains is how joy comes in the ordinary moments, when we are present enough to see it, and how being grateful for what we have is a way to tune into joy rather than focussing on scarcity and what we feel is missing.

I’ve been meaning to start a regular gratitude practice for a long time. So JOYFUL GRATITUDE is a series for myself, to highlight the little things that bring me joy. I consider it an experiment, as I always feel drawn to writing what I need the most. I’m wondering if I can carve this joyful groove into my nervous system, so that it becomes second nature and I can tap into it whenever needed.