Happy + Optimistic 2025

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This is Pip the whippet who was clearly a Sphinx
in Ancient Egypt in another life.

Happy new year, my friends. The sun is out, quite miraculously, in West Berks, after the most tempestous, bi-polar of weather over Christmas and the new year. Yesterday it snowed and in the little wood between us and the church, when I ventured in with both dogs, it was positively warm, with steam rising through the pine trees, as if I were in a natural sweat lodge. Or Narnia. This morning the gale force winds blew out hundreds of candles on us as we walked through the farm. Now, sunshine. I'm at my desk realizing that zoom calls are really not my thing, darling, and that I need to simplify. I'm told not to panic, that the new year doesn't properly start till Wednesday when Aries comes onto the scene (reliably sourced via Kirsty Gallagher) and that this mad dash to give up things and start new regimes really isn't good for us. 

I'm reliably informed that this year is going to be great and that it is a year when more and more people are going to realize that we are all souls having a human existence. There is a shift happening and we're going to discover if we haven't already that we have six not five senses. (If you haven't listened to The Telepathy Tapes, do so immediately.)  Imagine how the earth will change when this news catches fire!

The best advice I have is listed here. Take what you need:

• Sardines on grilled on rye bread are the best high choline, omega 3, protein-rich snack. Also, delicious. Parmentier is best.
• Be patient. When you ask for something it will come to you but not always immediately. A bit like a 6 month old puppy working on recall (see pic above).
• Everything that you're presented with is meant for you and instead of asking why, ask what. Everything is a lesson of some kind, you know part of life's rich fabric. It's a puzzle for us to unlock.
• Start the day and end the day with a prayer or an intention, even if it's whispered under the covers when you're dog tired; what it is you would like and what is it that you are grateful for. Gratitude begets abundance. It's just the way it is. I say this little one adapted from Sonia Choquette: "Divine Spirit within me, move me in the direction of my highest good this day and the highest good I can bring to anyone I encounter. Move my mind, words, emotions, thoughts and body in the direction of my greatest success and the greatest good. Thank you for the abundance that surrounds me." For a long time I had brain salad, all kinds of ideas swirling in my head in a mushy ADHD lentil soup. Once I started articulating things OUT LOUD, things happened. And it got better.
• Water of any kind, drunk, swam in, bathed in, showered in, walked in, splashed on you, will help you. Take more than you think you need. Water is magic.
• Eat an orange. Preferably one with babies. Simple and perfect.
• Consider the things you spend your time on. Just don't do anything that you don't vibe with. Why bother? Life is short. We choose to be here to live out our years, so why not fill them with things that bring joy and meaning.
• Sound is everything. Now they've discovered it heals too. Find music and vibration that makes you feel happy. Find a sound bath if you haven't already.
• Let them. See Mel Robbins' new brilliant book, or her podcast interview with Oprah. Just that: Let them. You are the only thing you have any control over. You cannot change anyone else. You're not there to feel their emotions for them nor to control how they feel. The only thing you have any influence over is yourself. (It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.)
• Everything is conscious. It may not have a beating heart and it may not look like you, but it will vibe with you, so greet everything with love. Say hello to the birds, the trees, and see what they bring you. (It's only good manners, really, innit?)
• Radical acceptance. Accept the world as it is not as you would like it to be (which is a variation on Mel Robbins.)
• This one is hard, I know, but what you think becomes your reality.
• LOVE.

Good luck and please know how powerful you are.