Spring and new beginnings

Were it not for flowers, we'd have no idea where time goes. And seasons. Rain and sunshine. Peace after the wind blows. And the interim. Where you don't know whether you are alive or not, whether breathing is enough, when there is nobody to tell you if you must wait or if you must push.

This photo was taken on a winter. Last winter. When life felt like Spring. When everything seemed possible. When I could be as vocal as I wanted, and as alone and as together as I pleased.
Till life pushed me to my current state of prison. Where home is not home. And all I craved and escaped for, seems so close and so gone.

The window that opened that summer morning in Provence, lead me to my freedom. And my freedom taught me my limits. And my limits taught me that my life is not infinite. That breaking free gave me hope, and a new lease for life. 

I travelled. I loved. I am so thankful for the sweet taste of freedom and love

I am loved. And that's all that matters. 

I

Some thoughts on growing up and letting go

The grate to happiness is self compassion

Seeking the #light. #nature #green #plant #spring

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Irene Farmer (@thehappyturtle) στις 18 Απρ, 2018 στις 12:37 πμ PDT

The more I grow old, the more I sense the need to grow. Not in n'importe quelle direction. I feel the urge to grow into myself. 

There is nothing selfish to this and I don't need to explain it to those who have followed taken this path already. Here it is though, as it unfolds:

We are brought up in split habits. Either be selfish and go for it over dead bodies, or be submissive and endure. Christian culture does not help in that direction. Compassion for self is not taught at school. You learn to be competitve, get better higer marks, you learn to shape your judgement following other people's opinions, and you learn to accept authority, the teacher, the schoolmaster, the boldest and most judgemental of students.
As I make the conscious decision to grow up, a field of open opportunities arises.
I no longer need to like that kind of bed (because my soon-to-be-ex-husband likes it) but a new kind o bed, and this, I realise just now, may have more implications than the object itslef.
I have recently began working with a holistic practitioner and I am amazed at her insights. I am amazed at the recurrent themes that I have been neglecting, thinking they would go away.
I am amazed at how much pain we get to inflict upon ourselves by not being ourselves.
I am finding out more about myself, and as I see how my feelings and actions have an impact on my body, I realise that you can hide from everyone but yourself. 
So, I choose to let light in, at my own pace, and as the Divine wants me to unfold. And be myself.

Love and Light, 

Rena

Holiday cheer (Part IV: What my Holidays looked like)

.MEMORIES.

 Times of cheer and anguish.

Missed opportunities.

Half-finished projects.

AND

Finding my way amidst all of it.

Finding purpose.

Repurposing.

Reevaluating.

Accepting.

.CHEER and JOY.

Red.

A tree.

Strings of light.

No clutter.

Peace.

.QUIET.

The peace of it.

Concentrating.

Sensing what matters.

Enjoying what is.

.MY CHILDREN.

Because life has a way of going on. 

And giving us sweetness when we least expect.

xoxo

Goodbye 2014

Thank You, 

with all my heart.

Cat talk

via 

This illustrated quote comes from one of my favorite modern artists, 

the magnificent Lisa Congdon 

and her new book.

( Is there a Santa in Springtime? )

Here is our eldest, five year old Patcha the crazy cat. 

A darling, really.

And our naughty little Feta 

(named after feta cheese, you may have guessed)

Two darling little creatures

making us love and relax

and laugh.

Are you a cat person

a dog person

or

a fish person?

Or maybe 

a garden person?

Do tell!

Guest posting invitation and coming soon...

Hello, friends, 

 If you are following me on Instagram, you know what I am up to, what I like most, and what i believe is really worth talking about. Flowers, fruit salad and cats, that is ;-)

Yes, that's what matters most, plus family of course, but you know I am not comfortable in posting my kids' faces all over the place. 

What I do like is a good post that eases my soul and rests my mind. A breath of fresh air and beauty. 

Would you like to write one (or more...) post for The Happy Turtle? 

I hope you will! 

Please e-mail me with your post idea at happyturtledeco {at} gmail {dot} com.

Also, I am glad to say that two lovely companies whose products I adore, have offered my readers giveaways! How cool is that? 'Cause you, too, love a good giveaway or two. I know I do!

So, these giveaways will be coming soon, in about a week or so the first 

hint: it's a lovely summery dress of your choice!:

So stay tuned, and keep those guest post e-mails coming!

 

Question time...

1.Night Owl

2.Modern

3.Car crash

4. Travelling to the speed of light from Atherns to Mykonos to New York to Paris

5. Healing

6. Romancing under the Acropolis

7. Never accept anyone above you

8. Both

9. I worked hard on my self in order not to be embarrassed. I cherish not feeling embarrassed 

10. The one you decide to spend your life with.

Linking to French Essence

{my one stop for my French fix}

(All images via Pinterest)

My Athenian Weekends-January

Goodmorning, dear friends,

I know I am blessed with one of the most beautiful mornings one can see from a window, that of the Acropolis. Its golden glow, different at all times of the day and night is just amazing.

Since we moved to Athens, we have been spending every weekend with my in-laws. It is so stramge how our lives change, our moods shift and once this shift happens everything falls into place and is as it was meant to be.

Soft and fragrant in a grammy hugging way, my mother-in-laws blankets have nothing fancy or modern, they are worn in places , but they smell divine. They are not machine washable but they get an almost ritual wash at the end of the winter and are kept tidily wrapped till the first cold winds of November blow.

At moments like these there is no place in the whole wide world I wouuld rather be.

In my garden, following a few days of rain and wind, the sun came out and the roses are getting new leaves.

I got a pair of pink UGG-style boots, all fleecy and cozy. Funny, my daughter has them in brown but I was smitten by pink.

At an one-day trip to our fome town of fifteen years, I found this, my favorite skirt ever. It is a deep emerald green doubled silk embroidered with pink flowers. I put it on on Saturday and went for coffee-to-go with my sweetheart. I managed to spill some of it on the skirt so I washed it in the woolen circle and it came out nicely. Yummy relief!

This lemon tree is just across my kitchen door. I look at it almost every day. lemon are ripening so slowly and i am thrilled to see them turn a beautiful yellow.

Can you see a little green one popping out , too?

Wishing you a beautiful, blessed week,

Finding your quiet spot

.



That little dot. That little quiet spot that you sometimes reach and most often long for. Do you have one? I am travelling along with my spots all of my life. I tune into myself and find some comfort and warmth. I listen when I am quiet. I stop and breath and am all quiet inside.

I have fancied myself and painter. I believe it'd be liberating. The big strokes of royal blue, the paint dripping. But i have always worked with words. I must honour them cause they are earning me who I am.

I'd love to travel. Travel more. Be a journalist. A dispatch journalist reporting from some important city in an important country where all the buzz happens.

i think I am in the right place.

i have spent 15 years of my life doing what I should do. By doing what I should do, I discovered what I like to do. And that is writing. and taking pictures. And talking psychology. And reading. And all this needs to come out this year, I can feel the rush of the things piling all these years and being ready now to get a life outside of me. It is my need to be free.

Funny how you find yourself by getting away from it and how you get to accomplish what you are by welcoming yourself into a life you never thought that fit you.

So, I am not a farm girl. Nor a crafty girl. Nor a bekeress. Mush as I love other lady bloggers, like soulemama and anna-maria and cherry, it's settled, for the time being, I'm not any one of them.

I am here. Plain and clear. I have run my distance and now I look at my own quiet little spot.

.

If I have one piece of advice to give, it'll be
Listen to yourself.

Something for the weekend

This is how I feel today...

What about you?

Image: Swedish Hasbeens via Emily who is Happy Turtle's newest friend

Welcome, Emily. Hope to see you often and have some good times, together. We might all try your (mmm!) yummy cinnamon raisin rolls.

I received in the mail today Cheryl Richardson's newest newsletter  (you may subscribe here) and it fit so well with a comment my spiritual father made about me the other day.

I strongly encourage you to take the first step to confession and have a spiritual father.
It is amazing how things tie together from all different ways when we let go of what we think we must do and put our trust to God and to what God wants for us.

Wishing you all a beautiful, blessed weekend.

P.S. It is election Sunday here in Greece. Prayers needed. Thank You All.

Me, this week

Photo: Tatler, 2010

Our patterns are so adorably persistent. I love my desire for beauty and order. I will continue to see my desire for perfection with humor and love.

(From Jennifer Louden) 

Reaching for the impossible

How do you feel this week?

What helps me? Answering Jennifer Louden's questions

One of my favorite people, writer and  Comfort Queen Jennifer Louden, wrote this article, that I find stimulating for each and everyone of us.

I believe we can all ask ourselves the same questions, and find different answers coming out, or very similar ones, at that. Believe me when I say that my answers, when they are put to paper, very often surprise me when they compare to what I expected myself to answer.

Jennifer's questions follow (go here to read her answers)

What helps me in my business?

What helps me in my business isn’t any different than what helps me in my life. I’m sure the same is true for you. Like:

:: who do you grow with? my husband and our family. I believe that if you are inclined to married life, choosing/picking/ following, whatever leads you to sharing your life with the person who is your life companion is key to finding your life's purpose, to chase your deamons or making peace with them.

* what do you excel for? Being a good example for my kids is motivating me to be a better person. I can see patterns in my behavior from my experience as a child, that I put aside, and reach for ways to be closer to my children, being more open, more supportive, more present for them.

:: who do you allow to support you even when it’s messy – really messy. Realtives have traditionally been a safety net for Greek families. Not all are blessed with loving relatives, but C's family is blessed with some loving, caring relatives. I admire my mil' sfamily for their close knit ties, and I want my children to grow to be tight together like a fist. 

* more of letting that messy support in. Asking for help has been for me an exercise to humility. I am a shy person, and this is often mistaken for pride or distance. I need my time to feel comfortable in the presence of people. I have been through the letting too much out after keeping too much in. Finding this balance has been a challenging and yet rewarding part of my life. 

:: Pleasing myself first and then asking “How can this serve the people I love to inspire?” This is very hard for me but I’m clear it’s the only way I will have the energy to continue to create. Serve yourself first.(Jen's words). That was one of Jennifer's lessons that I found hard to follow, yet in a way freed me

via

* who guides you beyond your limits? Oh, it will have to be life. I have shifted from a place of seclusion, what seemed like a destiny to academia, to retail sales which is the exact opposite, in terms of  introvert-extrovert.

via

:: do you allow yourself to be a learner? name where and when. That's tough, isn't it, saying "I don't know how to do it', when you are pressured to save face in business at all costs. And yet, I find saying "I don't know" a relief and a beginning, beggining a healthier relationship with a customer, dealing with coworkers, even dealing with my own kids. I have read alot, I ahve tried some more. Most of all, I remain a learner in front of God. I have learned to say, "Show me the way, cause you are the way, the light and the life."

via

* how do you grow in awareness? Learning to take a break. Stop and think about what I'm doing. I have always loved having penpals from different places of the globe, and that hasn't changed since I was a teenager. It evolved into blogging, and I am thankful for that. Opening up to the best possibilities, opening up to beauty makes me aware of the beauty I am capable of. 

:: who do you want to create with? have you asked? Hard one. Funny as it is, I can see women getting together to knit and craft in the States or the UK, and here simply isn't done. Unless one is my mil' s age, when women used to get together with their cross-stitching for morning coffee, it just isn't part of the culture anymore. There are places in Athens that younger women get together and sew. They are young, have lived abroad, and kind of link their two experiences together. Our company does workshops and we only recently hosted one. So yes, baby steps...

But right now, I am encouraged to create by my children. They way they approach making things as a natural part of their lives. They don't research that much or collect patterns. They pick their tools and go for it. And if they are not Ok with the result, they do again. I think this is a quality one loses through formal education, work and control in general. So, i love creating with my kids around, because they take me out of my "should" corner and into their "can" place.

* Blog posts like this on knowing what you want (you cannot please yourself if you don’t know what you want.) More of that, in a next post.

:: Owning my gifts. (be brave: own yours.) Ha! Such puritans, we learn to hide our gifts instead of using them to their full potential. The concept of our talents being God's gifts to me is relatively new to me and I discovered it through blogging friends. I am encouraging my kids to go for what they like. Acknowledging that my talents are God given is one sure path to happiness.

* how do you stay on your own side especially when despair and fear come a calling?

Prayer. How can I stress this highly enough. To remain on your side, to remain connected to your true self, you must be connected to your power source. God is the ultimate power source that works for each one and all of us. Because He is Love, He knows how to adapt His attention to our needs, let us swim and throw a life boat in when we need it most. 

Ultimate self-care is key to being present for others, too. So yes, I now take that catnap, stop to hug my cats, eat black eyed beans wven when no one else wants them, and hve a banana for breakfast when it feels right. Stay tuned to the Source.

:: where does love hold you to your best self and where does self-hatred bend you to improve? Being accepted by yourself for all your weaknesses and dark corners, your lies and secrets is a big first step. Know thyself for who you are. Get cleaning and arranging your soul without blame. Loving after thyself like you do a little baby. Important. Self-hatred has kicked in more than once in my life, but, apart from some venting, it only did me harm. So do what you have to do with love.

* what are you devoted to? This is the essence, really, where do our loyalties rest, where does it all come to. I believe for me it all rests in my love for Greece, the spirit of freedom and independence it stands for in the entire world, the unsubmissiveness, the raw edge. SO I'd say, all in all for me, life is about being free to live your life. I am devoted to Freedom.

via

I learn so much about myself with the help of Jennifer's questions. 

I encourage you to visit Jennifer Louden  and bet you to be inspired to a more loving, inspired, kind life.

Chalkboards and Confessions

Chalkboards have been around for quite some time now. 

We have a chalk board painted wall for ages, and I never tire of it. 

And we have a couple of chalkboards at home that I'm going to show you.

But they just got their seal of aproval and avant-guardedeness by the one and only Oprah.

 A lovely entirely hand-lettered cover for the February issue of O, the Oprah magazine, and inside a story all illustrated by artist Dana Tanamachi.

Take a look. 

The cover.

"Meet the artist" 

The Story

"Six Word Memoirs: Your Life Story in Six Words"

Also

Read an interview with the artist at Design Sponge.

Dana Tanamachi homepage.

Seek

Imagine

Reject

Believe
Provoke

Freedom

Me in 6 words

What about YOU?

Sunday Morning

I used to do yoga every morning and every night. Two houses ago, we had an attic and I used to wake up at 6 a.m., sneak upstairs and do 15 minutes of yoga.
Then in the evening, after I'd tucked C and the girls to bed (J wasn't here yet), I'd go upstairs and do 45 minutes of deep relaxation.
That regime kept me cheerful and happy with myself, feeling i'd done something for me, and be ready to face the day.

After my years of depression, soul searching and finding my way back to Jesus Christ, I had tried, almost forced myself to go back to yoga, something that i knew would make me feel good. But it just didn't work.

I'd make a big anouncement on my blog, trying to commit myself in front of my audience, blame it on the kids for littering every space with their presence.


Then one day after the pressure had mounted and I felt like crying spells were coming back, I walked up to the telly room, pushed the sofa back, put a rug on the floor, and picked a tape. I chose one I hadn't used before, from an instructor I knew was gentle, who wasn't bossy, and would make me feel better.

And so I started again. As a complete novice. No expectations.

And so this morning I woke up. Did my yoga practice. Felt quite happier. And moved on.

{Current Yoga tape:Geri Yoga With Katy Appleton}

Me & my brooch

ME and my new vintage brooch, bought from this lovely Etsy seller: Jessica Ty. Gosh, I love it!

I have been dreaming and saving for this cardigan...and now it's here...I won't wait till Christmas...an Eileen Fisher look-a- like by French brand Cyrillus...arrived today.

Do you like my autumn colors?

And if you are wondering how I go through the day, here is a look at my new mug. I love Cath Kidston, even when people are saying the brand is out of fashion. Not with me, dear!

Sending love with an open heart.