Monday Muse: Seven Inspirations for the Week

Peace, Inner Peace, Peace Kits and Living Life Now, Not So Seriously

Oct 07, 2024

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Apologies for last week’s missing Monday Muse. I was sick in bed with a horrid cold :( It did give me time to do a lot of thinking and reflecting which will come out over the next few weeks in my writing. One thing I’ve decided is that Monday Muse will change a little. It’s going to be a bit shorter and more to the point. That way it’s more accessible and readable to everyone, not just my subscribers who have the time to read longer posts.

I also have made some changes to Free and Paid Subscriber benefits that are rather exciting! All is revealed after the article :)

1/ The book I’ve been reading this week:

Reading the Tao Te Ching is not easy, and it can be difficult to relate it to our Western minds and lives.

Diana Dreher has written a fabulous book using the same beautiful wisdom and teaching but in a more modern and easily understood way.

Tao means “the way”. It’s been translated as the single principle underlying all creation, the laws of nature, the truth and the source of life.

Her book The Tao of Peace is one you don’t have to read cover to cover but can pick up and open anywhere and get a short lesson on living life with peace and harmony.

My meditation last Saturday was all about self-love and as is the way of these things sometimes, when I pulled this book from my shelf this morning, it fell open on page 53 which is all about self-esteem and our inner monologue.

She says that building self-acceptance takes time. That’s why it’s important to listen to my meditations daily not just once. “At first we notice a monologue of self-criticism. We can turn off the monologue with affirmations or increased attention to what we are doing.”

Affirmations such as:

I love myself
I accept myself
I am at one with Tao

The more we love and accept ourselves, the more we feel peace, deep inner peace.

2/ What I’m grateful for this week:

Sometimes when life changes hugely, it’s easy to dwell on the big things we have lost. I get myself out of this way of thinking by focusing on the small things.

I keep a gratitude jar. Every night (almost!) I write on a small piece of paper what stood out to me that day as a high point. I don’t overthink it.

Doing this has changed my whole mindset. It keeps me focused on what was good that day, even if it wasn’t an easy day.

Here are a few from this week:

Grateful for cancelled plans so I can stay home.
Grateful for rest. For having the peace and freedom to do it.
Today I kept going and was gentle with myself. Grateful that I am strong and brave.
Grateful that I feel so at home here. Don’t think I’ve found that before.
Today they finished the kitchen and I paid the final bill. I’m so proud of myself.
Sitting in the garden reading, seeing the castle on the hill and realising again how absolutely beautiful it is here. How grateful I am.
Dinner and movie with L. Talking on FT with C, all 3 of us. So grateful.

3/ My favourite quote this week:

I found some great Hunter S Thompson quotes this week. I hadn’t really heard of this author until a few years ago when I was living in Thailand and made friends with an old guy called Danny who had lived in Phuket for the last 40 years. He was full of interesting stories and often talked about a friend of his back home in Colorado and the wild adventures they had together. This friend was Hunter S Thompson.

Most people know the “Wow What a ride!” quote but the one that resonated with me this week is the one below for the simple reason that it was something I needed to hear.

Over the last two years, my life has changed beyond all recognition. I’ve realised that I hold myself so tightly to having to be, act and look a certain way. To prove to everyone that I can do this myself, that the end of my marriage hasn’t broken me. When the truth is, I still feel broken sometimes and I think I may have forgotten how to let go and have fun.

“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.”

So my motto now is not to take things so seriously. What will be will be. I’ve proved I can survive something truly terrible and now it’s time to enjoy my life again. (It seems I need this reminder quite often!)

4/ My healthy tip of the week:

Someone shared this recipe in my LIFT (Ladies In France Together) Facebook group and I thought I’d try it as anything healthy and simple gets my attention. It’s called Baked Feta Pasta, but I think you could do with with other cheeses too. I made it last night and it was delicious! I added a big handful of spinach as I like greens.

Ingredients:

200g cherry tomatoes
1 block of feta cheese (about 200g)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh basil or parsley (optional, for garnish)
250g pasta of your choice
Red pepper flakes (optional, for a kick, I used Cayenne as I like spice!)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F).
Prepare the baking dish: Place the cherry tomatoes in an oven-safe dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic (if using). Toss to coat the tomatoes evenly.
Add the feta: Nestle the block of feta cheese in the centre of the tomatoes. Drizzle a bit more olive oil over the feta and season with some additional pepper or red pepper flakes if you want extra spice.
Bake: Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes are blistered and the feta is golden and soft.
Cook the pasta: While the tomatoes and feta are baking, cook your pasta in salted water according to the package instructions. Once done, drain the pasta and set aside.
Mash and mix: Once the tomatoes and feta are done, remove the dish from the oven. Use a fork to mash the softened feta and roasted tomatoes together to create a creamy sauce.
Combine: Add the cooked pasta to the baking dish and toss everything together until the pasta is coated in the sauce.
Garnish: Top with fresh basil or parsley for extra flavour, and give it a final drizzle of olive oil if desired.
Serve: Serve warm, and enjoy your delicious, creamy baked feta pasta!

5/ This is what I’ve been studying this week:

I had been brought up to think that the way to get ahead in life was to work hard. That’s all I ever saw my father do, but it didn’t seem to work wonderfully for him. I still did it for years though.

Then I heard the phrase, work smarter, not harder, and it started me thinking in a different direction. It’s taken many years though for me to lose that ingrained belief that if only I tried a bit harder I’d be a lot more successful. Sometimes I still struggle with that belief deep down.

The fact is that I am a sum of all my habits, good and bad. It’s so simple but I have only understood that completely in the last year or so.

When I am making most of my decisions now, I ask myself whether it will get me closer to my goal, or rather my purpose. It seems to eliminate some unnecessary work that I may have done unthinkingly in the past. Now things are more streamlined. It also helps me make faster decisions.

Even seemingly unrelated things. Should I book a holiday next week? So I ask myself the question, do I need a break to rethink the goals I’ve set out? Or will it just distract me? The answer was that I do need a break. A change of scene is something that has always inspired me and helped me come up with new ideas, plus I often come across new opportunities when I go somewhere different.

6/ This is what I’ve been listening to on repeat:

I have found this piece of music to be incredibly calming. It’s helped me calm down when my brain won’t stop and I need to sleep.

I’m going to add the Apple Music link too as the version on YouTube where I first found it sometimes is spoilt by having an ad right in the middle.

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/kirtan-kriya-sa-ta-na-ma-kundalini-experience-series/1007234629

7/ My favourite meditation this week:

This is something I’m trying to do more of. Just be here Now! Not in the past, feeling sad over what’s no longer with me or living in the future, just now today. Whatever I do today is enough. Whatever I am today is enough.

Be Here Now Meditation

Georgia Clare

July 8, 2024

In this meditation, we go on a journey to fully embrace the present moment.

Read full story

You can also find my meditations on Insight Timer!

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Did you enjoy this week’s slightly changed Monday Muse?! I hope you’ve found something here that inspired you.

I enjoy sharing what has helped me and made a difference in my life, so please let me know in the comments whether it has helped you too and which of the 7 you liked most.

See you next week!

Love Georgia xx

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