lailiving: 2020

Monthly Message : Update

personal April 01, 2020

Hello, my loves! I’m surprised that today -when I wrote this blog post- is the last day of March. I thought it’s still one more week lol. So, as I tweeted before, I decided to use something different to decide my monthly theme. The first 3 monthly themes were coming into my head when I did my routines, and those words kept repeating themselves that I needed to write them as monthly themes. This time, I used my own card to decide. It’s actually the deck I use to learn kanji, haha. I will talk about this special deck that is named Rara Card (inspired by Clow Card and Sakura Card - from Cardcaptor Sakura series) since I’m the one who created it.

So, I got Flower, Wind, and Through. Those 3 are originally from Clow Card deck. An image that appeared after getting these cards was sakura petals getting flown away by the wind, yeah, it's spring (in the northern hemisphere). I couldn’t get one word to describe this, that I couldn’t write this blog post until today. The word “update” popped into my head as I read a tweet about Mars in Aquarius even though they didn’t have any “update” in it. You can check my retweets in my twitter account. Then I got my Google Docs to pour anything inside my head.

So, update means UPDATE. Downloading the new features and releasing the old ones. It needs time, so you can take a nap while it’s completing itself. What can we do to update ourselves? It’s taking action courageously!

Here are 3 ways you can do to update your life :

1. Break the rules

The rules mean your own rules, everything you have agreed to part of your life. You have lived for years and created so many rules for yourself. You created limitations and beliefs that are your rules, that rule your life. Question the rules you have made. Probably you made it because you were asked by your parents, or you made it because your friends set that rules too, or you made it because of your fears. Any reasons you have for creating those rules doesn’t matter, just question it. Question the rules. Are they really relevant for the current you? Are they still serving the best for you? If not, then it’s time to break it. You created it, you are the one who is able to break it. Break the rules, be thankful for them serving you for years, and replace them with the new ones. By consciously doing that, you will then get different results, your life will change.

2. Show yourself

One song that keeps repeating itself during March is Show Yourself from Frozen 2. Even though I loved listening to this one, one thing that I realized having a deep meaning for me is “You are the one you've been waiting for”. I’ve been waiting for myself, not anyone else. I’m the one who will change my own life.

Once you break the rules you have made and agreed, you are able to show yourself. Throw away the mask you’ve been wearing, stand courageously, open that door you have locked and know that nobody was born the same. Show yourself, recognize your fears, be friends with it, go with it.

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"Miracles only happen in the unknown" - lailiving

3. Step into the unknown

Do something different. As I posted in the last weekly message of March, you don’t need to do big things to change your life. Small things will compound, gradually your life will change. If you have been living for 20 years with the same beliefs and habits, and you think your life is always the same, it’s time to step into the unknown. The unknown and the unfamiliar are where the miracles can only happen. Miracles are not things that you can predict, because you have never done it before. It’s normal when you feel scared. Fear is just the reaction when your ego feels being threatened by the unknown. It always wants to protect you and make sure everything is under control. You have been living this way for so long. Me too. I was someone who loves everything going as my plans, I disliked the unexpected. But, this powerful mantra “Miracles only happen in the unknown” has changed my life. I see the unexpected, the unfamiliar and the uncertain as opportunities to see more miracles. So, how about trying to step into the unknown happily for once?

Yeah! So, this time, try to push that update button, and see what happens next. You don’t have to keep your eyes on it every time, leave it updating, believe the divine timing.

I hope you enjoy this monthly message for April, see you on the next monthly message. Keep living, keep loving, and peace.

Oh, also, happy birthday to everyone whose birthday is in April! May your days ahead be wonderful.

Show Yourself - Takako Matsu, Yoh Yoshida (Spotify)

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Weekly Message : Let’s Jump Into The Unknown

personal March 29, 2020

Hello, my loves! Welcome back to another weekly message post, yay! Honestly I don’t know what to talk about in this weekly post, there is no specific message I want to share here, so I will share anything that pops into my head right now, then I will just adjust the title based on the content, haha.

Astrologically, now Saturn is in Aquarius and the new cycle has begun as the Sun moves into Aries on March 20. For me, it’s about change. We want to change our old habits, old patterns and our old selves that are no longer suitable for us. We have lived with those old things and we have seen the results for many many years. It’s time to change them. We don’t know what it would be like, but I believe it would be different from the “certain” or the “familiar” events that we used to encounter.

You have been living by the same habits, waking up on the same side of bed, doing the same routine, complaining about the same things, scrolling to the same controversial article on the internet, or arguing over the same things. You have seen the results over and over again, making you trapped inside the same old cycle.

How about changing them?

I don’t ask you to change all of your habits drastically. Start by doing your task differently, by seeing the things around you from different perspectives, or by doing something new everyday.

Sometimes, the universe wants us to change the old by sending us signs like conflicts, problems, or certain circumstances that require us to move and take different approaches. But, mostly we don’t see it as signs, instead we react to them in the same way, repeating the same pattern.

Someone said that action is power. You have the power in your action. You take an action to change something in your life, and your life will be changed.

A tweet by my favorite Marie Forleo mentioned something similar : Knowing something doesn’t change your life. Doing something does.

Yes, sometimes the different, the uncertain, or the unknown is scary, so that we hold ourselves back to make changes. But, I have one secret that really works in my life that pushes me to make changes. It’s like a mantra for myself : Miracles only happen in the unknown. I repeat that sentence every time I do something different or when my ego wants me to stop because it’s scary. Miracles don’t happen in the familiar circumstances, because you have known it all. You know the results because you have done it for years.

When you jump into the unknown, doing something different, you don’t know the results, you are scared what would happen to you, but that’s where the miracles come. We never know what would happen when we do something differently. Are you scared? Are you excited? Surprises can be both exciting and scary, but by stepping into the unknown, you have opened the doors for miracles.

Like, what I did when I wrote this post. I jumped into the unknown, I didn’t know what to write, and I didn’t have anything to share. I didn’t know how long it would be. But, as I typed the words, the things that I didn’t expect came in, and I just transferred them all into this post. That’s the miracle. Or when I did the Virgo Super Moon Message in my Youtube channel before writing the actual blog post, I just wrote the points I wanted to say, then I turned on the recorder and said what’s coming.

You don’t have to start a blog or youtube channel like me to make changes in your life. Just start doing something different in your routine that you can do right now, like cooking more healthy foods, saying thank you to everyone who helps you, unfollowing controversial accounts, or by starting a simple skincare routine. Things that you have never done before, that you don’t know the results by doing it every single day in your life.

By wearing sunscreen every single day, you have taken steps to protect your skin from UV damage, early aging, and even skin cancer. By choosing more healthy foods in your daily life, you help your body to work in its best state. By saying “thank you”, you show your appreciation and love for other people and also change the current situation to be more friendly.

When you are able to do it consistently, you then build a new habit. You build your own self-confidence by keeping the promises for yourself. Then you can do other new different things later. Small things that are done every single day will compound, build a new identity and a new lifestyle. We then change our lives gradually.

I believe that as you do it every single day, your life will be changed. You are a different person that has taken steps bravely into the unknown. So, what is one different thing that you do today?

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Weekly Message : Focus on The Good

personal March 22, 2020

By focusing on the good, we magnify its power

Hello, my loves! Welcome back to another weekly message post, yay! Actually, I have written something for this weekly message even but then I got another idea, so I need to post this one first. I’m currently this #FocusOnTheGood thing on twitter too, started on March 20. I want to spread a good vibe to the world. Starting by as simple as a twitter thread, I hope this good vibe will reach someone and change their life.

You can also do this on your social media or your blog anytime you want. You can use the title picture I made for my twitter thread too, or you can make your own.

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"You are the driver, don’t let them take your driver seat." - lailiving

I got this idea on Friday morning, since it was International Happiness Day. Also, March 20 is Aries Equinox where Sun moves into the sign of Aries, marking a whole new cycle. In the northern hemisphere it’s called Spring Equinox, while in the southern it’s called Autumnal Equinox, where we both have the same length of day and night. It’s marked as new year in astrology, Iranian/Persian calendar and Assyrian calendar. So, I want to do something different as I left the old for the new one. Then here we have #FocusOnTheGood Daily where I created a thread about good things I find every day, with the intention to spread more good vibes. So that everyone who finds my account could feel the peace in the middle of the storm.

Hi! It's #FocusOnTheGood Daily ー a thread of good things I find everyday. By focusing on the good, we magnify its power 🌿 pic.twitter.com/xrNAHM8c7Y
— lailiving (@lailivingroom) March 20, 2020

As we know, the current situation leads to worries, panic and anxiety. The news shows the increasing numbers, people convey their worries and fear, the other ones get angry, and some others keep spreading positive vibes through their accounts.

I do my best I can, so that the disease doesn’t spread more. Certain things are sold under limitation. One person is allowed only for one product. People might be worried, so that they come back again and again to the shop to buy more. I leave those masks, hand sanitizer, and my favorite body wash for those who need it. Those who have weakened immune systems, those who are older, those who are sick, and those who work in health care. We need to do the prevention steps, but we need to look around too. I believe one of the lessons from this outbreak is to be more loving and kind towards other people. When you do good things, more good things will come to you. By helping others, by not panic-buying, and by leaving the rest for other people, you save other people’s lives. So, please love yourself and love your surroundings too.

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"When you do good things, more good things will come to you." - lailiving

In this situation we might be easily triggered by some news that is targeted to spread fear, to increase views number and to control the mass focus. But, we have the options to focus on them or to focus on the simple good things we can find everyday. Please remember that, when we focus on something, we then get more of that thing in our lives. We put our focus on good things, then that good thing will be magnified and attract other good things to come. Oppositely, when we focus on some angry comments or controversial articles, we magnify that angry comments energy so that it brings more anger into our lives.

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"When we focus on something, we then get more of that thing in our lives." - lailiving

You have the power to switch your focus. You might find things that you see as “negative” around you, but don’t let them bring you down. You are the driver, don’t let them take your driver seat. By consciously taking back your driver power, you then can see that “negative” thing clearly. Based on The Power of Now, you have 3 options when you face something “negative” : 1) leave that negativity, 2) make changes, or 3) practice acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean you validate the negative things to be there, you just recognize their existence, see them from different perspectives, not put any labels, and make peace with it.

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"Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them." ー Steve Maraboli Happy International Happiness Day ☀️ Keep focusing on the good, do the necessary, stay calm and choose happiness 💖 #InternationalHappinessDay #青空 #FocusOnTheGood

A post shared by LALA | lailiving.com (@lailiving) on Mar 20, 2020 at 1:09am PDT

I believe that everyday you will find at least one good thing, even though the rest of your day is filled by “negative” things. So, even if it’s only one, when you focus on it, it will bring more good things for you. It doesn’t matter if it’s only one. You have decided to be the driver of your own life! That’s a good thing. Just keep doing. By the end of the year, you’ll realize that your life has changed so much.

So, where do you want to put your focus to?

Okay, I hope you enjoy this weekly message, see you next week. Keep living, keep loving, and peace!

Listen to Audioblog version :

Weekly Message : Focus on The Good | Audioblog #11

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Weekly Message : We Are Reflections For Each Other

personal March 15, 2020

Anything you see from me, good or bad, is actually the thing that you have within.

Hello, my loves! Welcome back to another weekly message section. Yay! I’m thankful for these 2 weeks views that surpassed my average monthly views. You are amazing! Also, my laptop is back to its normal state, I can use the keyboard normally.

One day, when I scrolled into twitter, I saw pictures of my favorite celebrity, then I paused for a while appreciating the moment that I got to know such an inspirational human being. Then I heard something like “Everyone is connected. You are them, they are you.”

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"The way we perceive life determines what comes to us." - lailiving

Everyone is connected. We are reflections of each other. We reflect each others’ traits to help each other. Like what I said in my previous post, everything depends on our beliefs and perceptions. The way we perceive life determines what comes to us. When you perceive someone who doesn’t do anything as a certain person, it might be you having the traits that you just perceived from that person. It doesn’t mean that you are a bad person when you see other people as bad, but it’s important to know what things that you think makes them bad and see it inside yourself.

Like what I told in my Audioblog Everything Doesn’t Happen To Me (that I don’t share on the actual blog post), I perceived someone that said rude words to me as a rude person. In an unconscious state, I reacted to that rudeness. That resulted in more rude words coming out from him. I then remembered that on that day, I said negative words as my unconscious reactions to my laptop that crashed. I regretted and judged myself after saying such words. I judged myself as someone unconscious, and that is bad. I had not forgiven myself and instead, I replayed that scene in my mind. So then, this “rude guy” came for me, to wake me up, to forgive myself. Even though it’s a bit weird, after I realized that, I forgive myself, I forgive him, I forgive everything, then my laptop came back to normal the next day.

As I mentioned in Weekly Message : Help and Weekly Message : Connect, that I ever disliked someone for his personality that I perceived as something bad. It’s simply because I had that aspect inside of me that I repressed because I disliked it, because people around me told me to do that. Once I realized that he just reflected what I had inside, I forgive myself, I forgive him, I forgive everyone and everything that has happened. I’m no longer seeing him as that kind of bad person. Instead, he is now an inspiration for me. I’m thankful I got to know him so that I could heal some aspects of myself.

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"By consciously knowing that everyone is a reflection of ourselves, we then take steps to learn and accept them and ourselves without judging or sticking certain labels into it." - lailiving

Reflection is one of countless ways of God loving you. You have asked for guidance and protection, then you get what you’ve asked for. Sometimes you don’t understand why the thing that you perceive as negative coming to you. It’s not coming to you. It’s coming for you. God brings that for you to guide you. You then learn and grow.

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Don't ask your reflection to smile to you. You have to smile first ( ･ᴗ･ )♡ PS : it's scary when you find it smiles first to you 🤣 #drawing #day22 #mirror #reflection

A post shared by LALA | lailiving.com (@lailiving) on Feb 22, 2020 at 7:07am PST

Reflection is not a punishment. It’s back to your belief and perception at first place. If you perceive it as a punishment then you get angry at God, it is just what it is. Reflection is a way to learn and to know ourselves more. We have gone through pain, sadness and many things up until this day. Those things are being piled up, most of them create our beliefs, create an identity that we think that’s who we really are. By consciously knowing that everyone is a reflection of ourselves, we then take steps to learn and accept them and ourselves without judging or sticking certain labels into it. Judging doesn’t change anything. If you want to change your life, don’t try to change people or situation, change yourself.

I’m still learning this reflection thing. But I do believe that as I get through things, I get better and better. You too. You might find good people you appreciate and admire, those traits are actually within you. It’s needed to come out. You have the seed inside you, you just have to nurture it to make it grow. The other day, you might find people that make you uncomfortable, that uncomfortable feeling is the fuel to move you to look deeper into yourself. When you look closer to those people, you will find that there is nobody to blame. You might need to forgive yourself for everything you have done, you might need to change your perception, you might need to see everything from a different view. Those people that make you uncomfortable have been brought by God for you, to help you.

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"When you look closer to those people, you will find that there is nobody to blame." - lailiving

It might not be as easy as it’s said, but at the end of the day, you will be grateful for everyone that has come into your life. Without them, you might not reach this point, you might not experience certain events, you might not get a better understanding about yourself, you might not learn much, you might not be able to help other people that experience similar situations.

Just like a mirror, whatever reflections you see, it is what it is, don’t try to change it. You can’t change the reflection, you can’t change the mirror, you only can change yourself.

Okay, I hope you enjoy this week’s post. I hope you get some messages you need. Please feel free to share this blog so that anyone who needs it can get some help. I wish you a wonderful week ahead, see you on the next post. Keep living, keep loving, and peace!

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Virgo Supermoon Message

personal March 09, 2020

Hello, my loves! How are you? We are stepping into the 2nd week of March, yay! This week we will have a full moon which is the Supermoon in Virgo and Mercury (the ruler of Virgo) stations direct in Aquarius. I want to send a message that popped into my head last night about this full moon (which I usually don’t do in any other planetary events), before posting any blog post about it. So the blog post and the audioblog version will be a bit different! Yay! I have stepped into the unknown.

Even though it’s the message I got from the upcoming Virgo Supermoon, it's timeless. Whenever you find this, it’s meant for you.

What I got last night about this virgo supermoon is looking deeper, getting clarity, ending the unhealthy habits in any area of our lives, and appreciating our work.

For me, full moon is about ending and illumination. Some aspects in our lives, that we didn’t recognize before, might be illuminated. So that we can get clarity from that, especially during this time Mercury is stationing direct in Aquarius. We might get clearer picture about what happened that might have clouded during retrograde in the sign of Pisces.

Virgo is about details, habits, and healing. We might need to look deeper into our daily habits. We might get clarity about some of them that are needed to let go. I got signs through my digestive system and throat that I need to cut some food (and I just remembered that Virgo is related to digestive system). Throat is related to Taurus, it’s also interesting since Venus and Uranus come into conjunction in this sign.

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"Disease comes as a sign that your body needs your attention because it is not in a balanced state." - lailiving

The big energy in the sky is dominated by 3 earth signs (Virgo - full moon , Capricorn - Jupiter, Mars, Pluto, Saturn, and Taurus - Venus, Uranus) that deliver a message to us to be practical. Earth is about practicality. When we recognize what’s no longer serving us for the better, we take practical steps to let it go. It might be small habits like eating habits. You might need to cut sugar from your daily food intake, and replace them with more fruits and veggies. You need to be mindful of the things you put into your body. Enjoy every meal with full consciousness, without distractions of any social media or television.

With the recent happening in the world now, media holds a huge impact on us, especially spreading fear faster and wider than the disease itself. We have to be mindful of the media we are consuming. You don’t have to stop watching television, avoiding social media or not reading the news, but you have to be conscious of what they present to you. Fake news has a more powerful ability to spread than the official statements. So what happens is the fear being the focus of the mass. People start buying certain stuff in bulk because of fears, then other people see it as business opportunities to sell that stuff in way higher price.

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"Unhappiness spreads more easily than a physical disease" - Eckhart Tolle

When you find certain media constantly spreads fears, just cut ourselves from that media for a while. We won’t die when we don’t read group chats that constantly share fake news and gossips. When certain messages are meant to be heard by us, it will come in the right time. We don’t need to know it all at the same time. When you find those kind of triggering posts or fake news, don’t react to it, don’t share, don’t comment, don’t do anything so that the post won’t be shared. You can report the post to be banned especially if it’s from social media.

Everything you face in outer reality, in this earth, is a reflection of your inside world. You may have all the drugs and tools from all over the world, but having them with fear will not solve the problem. Yes, you have to balance it out. It’s full moon that will happen on March 10, that is 8 universal day, it brings the vibe of balance. We have to balance between our physical and spiritual world. We do the work by choosing healthy foods, doing exercise, cleaning the house, and doing the necessary steps to prevent the infection, and also we do the inside work by knowing our fears, recognizing our thought pattern and emotions by being in the present moment.

Any health condition you have now doesn’t define who you are. Please remember that you are way more than your outer situation. Disease comes as a sign that your body needs your attention because it is not in a balanced state. Like acne or pimple, like what I’m currently having now, when it’s placed in certain areas, it represents certain body parts that are not in balanced condition. In my case, it’s my digestive system. It brings the message that I need to watch what I consume everyday. Some of you might be in different conditions with different diseases, one thing that you can do every single day (along with doing what’s your doctor told you) is being grateful for your body for reminding you to take a break and to pause yourself from your busy routines, for always loving you and for making sure you are alive.

Tweet this :

"Love and fear can’t exist at the same time." - lailiving

This Virgo Supermoon brings the message of hope. We are required to analyze, to choose, to end, to start and to balance our lives. Do the necessary things you can do, appreciate the work you have done, and don’t forget to look around, to love your environment and people around you. By emitting the love vibe, you take the steps to reduce the fear which has been taking part in this Earth. Love and fear can’t exist at the same time.

Lastly, I want to say that you are powerful and amazing, everything is possible when you believe in what you do everyday. Your body is smart and strong, it will do anything to keep its balanced state. Even if you are alone believing that healing is possible, it’s really possible. So, don’t stop believing.

Okay, so, I think I have said all the things that popped into my head, even though it seems messy and unorganized, I hope you can pick some messages you need from this post. Wish you a wonderful March. See you in the next random message. Keep living, keep loving, and peace.

Listen to the Audioblog version :

Virgo Supermoon Message | Audioblog #10

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Weekly Message : Recognize The Labels

personal March 08, 2020

One thing that I recently realized is I still have much more labels I have put on to everything around me.

Hello, beautiful people! Welcome back to another weekly message. Yay! I want to share something that I just realized recently, that brings changes in my life. It might be confusing but I’m trying to explain it clearly even though I repeat some sentences, lol. My Gemini moon ruler is in retrograde in Aquarius now which feels better than several days ago when it’s still in Pisces, but still it’s retrograde, haha. My explanation might be all over the place (as I just realized to my other posts both in this blog and my YouTube channel recently) but I hope you don’t get confused. I might come back to this article to revise it later.

One day when I was working in front of my office computer, I found that my headscarf looked different so I needed to fix it a bit. Then I paused for a while and asked myself why I needed to do this thing. It still looked like a normal headscarf. But then, another part of me answered that by using this headscarf in a certain form, I looked like an older woman. I just realized that I hated that. Then I remembered that this came from my childhood, I associated being an older woman (such as mother or wife) with being limited, having less freedom to do anything I want. I associated it with sadness, complaints, fights and financial problems. All of that came from my childhood, where I saw many married couples fighting over financial stuff, a mom yelling to her kids, the husband who left his spouse out of nowhere. My surroundings were chaotic at that time. Also I remembered that mom and dad got married at young ages, so it causes some problems in our family too.

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"What we call reality is how we perceive the world" - lailiving

It continues in my workplace where my co-workers sometimes tell their stories about how hard being a wife and a mother is. Even my boss explained all the details about the do(s) and the don’t(s) about being a wife. Those only showed me that being a wife and/or a mother only makes me sad.

I don’t want to be like that. I hated that. I want to live freely doing anything and going anywhere I want. I avoided any labels that I associated with being a mother or older woman. Simply because I don’t want to get hurt. It’s all based on fear of getting hurt.

Those labels come from association from past experiences, mostly subconsciously.

People around you might tell you that certain labels or associations you have are silly, and said that you are weird. But, no matter how weird it is, it exists. It exists within you for years without you realizing it. It exists and needs you to recognize it.

When you realize that you have certain labels associated with your past experiences, then you have options : to still hold it, or to leave it in the past.

What we call reality is how we perceive the world. Mostly we perceive it based on our past and our beliefs (that mostly rooted in the past). What you decide determines how your personal reality looks like. 2 people are placed in the same situation, but they might have different views about it, then they experience different realities. It answered my questions why different people see something as neutral as cloudy day as bad thing and they get angry because of it, and the other ones see it as good thing that cloudy day makes them happy, and the other see it as neutral, they don’t put any labels to it, they don’t see it as “good” or “bad”.

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"Other people’s perceptions don’t define who I really am." - lailiving

Any perceptions you have toward something will determine your action, your thoughts and your feelings. But it won’t change how it is. It will stay as it is. Whether you get angry or sad toward heavy rain outside, it won’t change the situation. You can only change your view, your label, your perception, your belief about it. Then you will feel more peace.

I then realized why I get bothered by something unnecessary. People might perceive me as younger or older than my actual age, but it’s not a problem. Other people’s perceptions don’t define who I really am.

The more I resist something outside my control, the deeper I fall down into it unconsciously. All I need to do is recognize it without judging or putting more labels into it.

It’s just a label, a belief, a perception anyway. I have the choice to take it or to leave it.

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Monthly Highlight : February 2020

personal March 03, 2020

February was also moving too fast. There is no day without rain. That’s why I was a bit sad that my laundry didn’t get much sunlight, but the cool weather allowed me to sleep more. When the weather gets hotter, I can’t sleep any longer. So rainy days are a blessing too. One thing that I felt during February was softness. February was softer than January. In February I did less things compared to January, but I decided to do some small things every single day starting February. I decided to do morning yoga, morning meditation and eat fruits and vegetables every single day no matter what happens. I used to only do yoga before bedtime, so starting February, I do yoga twice a day. Yay. I just felt that by doing these small things every single day, something in my life will be changed.

Also, February was the month where we were blessed by some different kind of fruits and vegetables. When I wrote a post about food from forest, I planned to order some Salak fruits online, but then mom brought a big package of my favorite Salak fruit along with dragonfuit, apples, banana and oranges, said she just got a discount from her favorite fruit seller. Cool!

February also was a month of surprises. One of them was my blog views that increased when I didn’t post anything. So this month’s total views surpassed January by 2000+ views. I didn’t aim for surpassing January views since I felt some resistance during the first couple days of mercury retrograde. I wanted to sleep more, I didn’t want to write anything. But after that I gained back my fire, haha, that I recorded some audioblog episodes in a day. Oh, speaking of Mercury retrograde, my laptop keyboard and its wi-fi connection feature are unstable. It’s an old laptop anyway, I might need to buy a new one. Also, I received another new year card from my friend. All the new year cards I received this year were self-made. My friends made them by themselves that I can feel their love and creativity through their cards. I hope I can send more new year cards for 2021 too. Yay!

1. Monthly Theme : Destiny

Destiny is my February monthly theme. As I wrote in the February Monthly Message : Destiny, I think everyone is responsible for their own destiny. What they believe as true and what they believe as false. Their beliefs determine their destiny, because I believe that God has created limitless realities for us to choose. All of those realities are possible for us to live in, and still remain as possibilities once we don’t do anything in our lives. It’s interesting, right? You have so many versions of your life to choose from. Once you choose it, it’s yours, it’s your destiny. Whether you believe it or not, your life still goes on based on your current beliefs.

2. One Day One Drawing on Instagram

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it doesn't need your validations or your likes to shine every single day ☀️ Even when you can't see it, it still shines behind the clouds ☀️ #drawing #day21 #sunshine

A post shared by LALA | lailiving.com (@lailiving) on Feb 21, 2020 at 6:27am PST

One thing that I decided to do everyday during February is posting one drawing a day on instagram. I made it! I missed only 3 days, haha, it’s really an achievement for someone like me who used to not be able to keep up a challenge until the end. I used to believe that once I break the continuous chain of being consistent in a challenge, I wouldn’t make it till the end. But, I realized it’s just a belief. I decided to leave it in my past. Even though I missed one day, I would post a new one the next day. If you are interested, you can visit my instagram @lailiving and check my drawings there. All of my drawings were drawn on the same day as it’s posted.

3. #MyKindFebruary Project Finished!

Another challenge or project I finished during February is #MyKindFebruary project that I always talk about in all my youtube videos. The blog post about it became one of the most popular posts during February, yay! Thank you! Congratulations to everyone who joined this project, you have made it till the end! I’m thankful and so proud of you that you chose to make small changes every single day during February. I joined my own project too, and I finished it! During the challenge, I was feeling that this challenge is something that is done between you and yourself. You don’t need to update it every single day. By only doing it from your heart, you will feel happiness. It’s the good energy that is spread through small things everyday, no matter what other people do or your circumstances look like. I hope I can make other projects to do small things everyday next time! I want you to spread good things to your surroundings, because energy whether it’s good or not, is contagious.

4. Lailiving Youtube Channel

I decided to post something on my youtube channel which I made one year ago. The introduction about it is posted under the post Introducing : Lailiving Audioblog. For now, I only posted the audio version of this blog contents. But, I will add more contents to my channel, since I’m new to youtube things, I’m still learning about it. Even though I learned about video editing basic couple years ago, I can’t remember them all, haha, so I started from scratch. If you are interested, you can subscribe and visit the lailiving youtube channel. I accept any comments and suggestions from you to improve my channel too, so leave your comments in the comment box below.

5. Everyday Quotes! On Twitter

"No one else can see the world the way you see it. No one else can feel your life the way you feel it. Thus it is impossible to ever compare two people because each stands on such different ground."

― John O'Donohue
— lailiving (@lailivingroom) February 20, 2020

Another thing that I decided to do every single day is Everyday! Quotes on my twitter account. I post at least one of my favorite quotes everyday. Some of them are from my current reading list. I also post my own quotes directly from my blog post. You can also use this feature to tweet certain quotes from my blog posts without re-typing it. I hope by using this feature, people can easily spread positive things through the internet. Some of my quotes are scheduled tweets that will be posted at random times. I decided to use this scheduling service to make it a surprise for myself. So every time I visit my twitter account, I will get unexpected quotes being posted there. If you are interested, you can visit and follow my twitter account @lailivingroom.

6. Skincare Empties : Etude House Soon Jung, COSRX, Laneige, Hadalabo

I emptied all my skincare during February. Haha. It’s part of my skincare commitment to empty all my purchased products before buying the new ones. During February I emptied 4 products which are Etude House Soon Jung 2x Barrier Cream, COSRX Ultimate Nourishing Rice Spa Overnight Mask, Laneige Cream Skin Refiner, and Hadalabo Gokujyun Ultimate Moisturizing Lotion.

Hada Labo Gokujyun Ultimate Moisturizing Lotion

You might be bored of me talking about this lotion from Hadalabo. Yes. I finished another bottle of Hada Labo Gokujyun Ultimate Moisturizing Lotion. Why I love this toner so much is because it’s simply hydrating my skin without any other promises. I only want to focus on hydrating my skin, so the toner that consists of Hyaluronic Acid and is targeted for only hydrating is the best choice I made. It’s a toner that I will come back to whenever I try any other toner. It’s affordable and you can find it almost everywhere.

Etude House Soon Jung 2x Barrier Intensive Cream is the first product from the mini trial kit that I emptied during February. I like this moisturizer since it’s calming without making my skin greasy. It doesn’t have any scent, only a subtle scent that smells like a new book which is my favorite. It has camellia sinensis extract, panthenol and madecassoside which are all my favorite ingredients.

Finally I emptied my Laneige Cream Skin Refiner. Even though it’s a travel size one, the hot weather during 2019 made me pausing this product usage until the end of the year where the weather went lower. It’s a cream in a toner bottle, which is so hydrating during dry and cold weather. It has meadowfoam seed oil which is the highly stable fatty acid that is one of the most resistant to oxidizing. Overall, it’s a super hydrating product that supports my minimalist skincare routine. When I use it, I only need this one and moisturizer to finish my routine at night.

COSRX Ultimate Nourishing Rice Spa Overnight Mask is one of my favorite moisturizer since it’s not only moisturizing but also calming. When I have small pimples come out, it works very well with my PURITO serum to calm my skin. Even though it’s an overnight mask, I use it under my sunscreen too during the day. It’s not greasy anymore. It has Rice Extract as its first ingredient that is claimed to tone and soften the skin. It also has my favorite ingredient, Niacinamide which is popular for skin brightening, but I love it for its calming function.

7. Book : The Science of Enlightenment - How Meditation Works - by Shinzen Young

Someone said that you can tap into someone’s energy by reading his book. Yes, it’s what I felt while reading The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young. I feel calm even though my surroundings were noisy. Shinzen Young is a neuroscience research consultant and American mindfulness teacher, who makes his book uses scientific approach mostly mathematics and neuroscience to explain how meditation works in our life. One thing that I didn’t expect from him is that he mastered Asian languages and lived in Japan as Shingon in Mt. Koya for 3 years. He also taught English for young monks there. He then received Shinzen as his name too. That’s cool! When most people think that meditation is sitting down on a couch in silence for 30 minutes or later, that’s true, but meditation can be done anytime. As this book explains “Any situation wherein you’re consciously cultivating focus is, by definition, a meditation.”. So, you can enter a meditative state during any of your daily activities.

8. Playlist : Love Yourself, It’s Okay, Joy To Life, Fields of Hope

Love Yourself is a new song from the new album Bright New World by Little Glee Monster. I also like its lead song SPIN which sounds cool. But, Love Yourself is instantly my favorite when I first listened to the song once it’s available for online streaming. This song inspired me to post Love Yourself post on February 14, that also fueled me to record the audioblog on the same day. My 2 favorite lines are (you might be bored seeing one of them, since I already posted it on my twitter and instagram) : “The future that you are stepping now is invisible to everyone else but you. The person that you can love more than anyone else is you.” The first line resonates with my old post about dreams. I ever posted something like, your dreams are only visible for you, because it’s only for you, not anyone else.

Spotify

It’s Okay is one of the songs by Ayla Nereo in her old album BeHeld. It’s a song that shows you that anything you do is okay. The song sounds fun and makes me chill in the afternoon. It’s okay to be private, it’s okay to cry, it's okay to hold back or hold things inside. It's okay to scream, to release them, to be seen, it's okay to be seen, it's okay to receive. Yeah, it’s okay, my loves.

Spotify

Joy To Life is one of my favorite songs from the album Holy Child by Alexa Sunshine Rose that I love to listen to during morning after my yoga routine. It’s calming my surroundings and sending the message of joy of peace to the world, to every living being and everything that exist in this universe. For me, morning time is an important time too, it’s a fresh start, so I want to plant seeds of positivity during the morning by listening to good music to raise my vibe. Since I currently live near a religious related place and a school that are rarely free of noises, I need to infuse my everyday with high vibe sounds.

Spotify

Fields of Hope is an insert song of Gundam Seed series by Tanaka Rie, that suddenly being re-released on Spotify on my birthday (what a surprise). Another calming song that shows us that the world and the peace are possible to live with each other. It’s a promise song the Fields of Hope we are longing for exist. It’s a comforting song that is suitable to be listened at the end of the day, when you are tired of your daily job, you just lay down on your couch and listen to this song. It feels like being sent to the quiet green meadow.

Spotify

Okay, I hope you enjoy this monthly highlight which is longer than I expected. See you on the next monthly highlight!

Title picture by lailiving
Photo by Element5 Digital from Unsplash

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1. Monthly Theme : Destiny

2. One Day One Drawing on Instagram

3. #MyKindFebruary Project Finished!

4. Lailiving Youtube Channel

5. Everyday Quotes! On Twitter

6. Skincare Empties : Etude House Soon Jung, COSRX, Laneige, Hadalabo

7. Book : The Science of Enlightenment - How Meditation Works - by Shinzen Young

8. Playlist : Love Yourself, It’s Okay, Joy To Life, Fields of Hope

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