Archive for April 2020

Hi! Welcome back to lailiving! Yay! We are now in the last week of April and I’m feeling excited to share this to you. I’m still doing #FocusOnTheGood thing on my twitter account. If you don’t know (and are curious about this one), go to this post Weekly Message : Focus On The Good or to my twitter account @lailivingroom where I pinned it on my profile page. It’s actually something you can do every single day that can completely change your life when you do it consistently. Finding at least one good thing and being grateful, appreciating and celebrating life are the things that we can do in this current situation. You don’t need to buy anything, you don’t need to post it on your social media, you don’t need to have million followers, just do it.

I realize that everyone has different life situations, but it can be done in any situation too. You don’t need to wait until being a multi-millionaire to be grateful for your life, to celebrate your life, and to make it the best.Your best day doesn't always mean you have accomplish all the tasks for the day or feel super good the whole day. For me, the best days are those where you can attend those days with 100% you.

1. Find the fun way to do your routine

For me, it’s the best definition of “doing the best everyday”. Know what makes you happy and excited doing your daily routines. When you think your daily routines or chores are boring, find the other way to do that. You have done your routines the same way, get the same results and feel the same feelings for years. How about changing it? It’s the best time to change the way you do something boring into something exciting. For example, I used to feel resistance to fold my clothes. Then I find another way to do it that is more fun. I listen to my favorite songs that I made into a special playlist for folding clothes. Beside that I use new laundry soap and perfume that are my favorites, so my clothes smell super good, that I really love it. Now the folding clothes is a super fun activity, because I have found a way to do it differently.

“Don't live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.”

― Germany Kent

So, when you feel bored, do something different, or do something in a different way.

2. Be in the now

Be in the now, do it now. Because the only time that exists is now. The past has been done, the future hasn’t come yet. Both the past and the future has no power over us. By being in the now, you then can see things clearly, see them as it is, and let them be. It’s important to Recognize The Labels we currently have that mostly are rooted in the past. When you do consciously, you then can cut the cord from the past peacefully. Don’t hate the past, don’t fear the future. Don’t do anything to them. The time you only have is now.

You can practice to be in the present moment by meditating. By meditating, you then can know what thoughts that come into your head without judging it, then put your awareness back to your breath. You will get better when you do it everyday even if it’s only 5 or 10 minutes. 1% growth will compound when you do it consistently.

The best books to practice this are The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Wherever You Go, There You Are by John Kabbat-Zin and The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer.

3. See everything as a new experience

Be like a child who sees everything around from the eyes of wonder.

Everyday is a new day. Every moment is a new moment. There is nothing the same, you can decide that now is a different moment. By seeing every moment as a new moment, then you are able to see the thing as a new experience, even though you might have done this similar thing in the past. It’s still related to being in the present moment, because when you tap into the now, the past and the future have no power over you. You are fully conscious. You erase the judgement and labels that prevent you from taking the chance, from being kind to others or from being the real you.

But, how if you are still tied into the past or the future?

The past creates anger, shame, resentment, guilt and sadness. The future creates fear, worries, and anxiety. Every time you feel fear, ask yourself : “What makes me fear?” Then realize that it is your ego that wants to protect you from the “things that might happen” because it’s unknown and unfamiliar. My powerful mantra to overcome this situation is “The miracles only happen in the unknown”.

Every time you feel sad, ask yourself : “What makes me sad?” Then realize that it is your ego that replays the same thing over and over again because it’s familiar. The ego loves the familiar things no matter how painful it is. As long as it’s familiar, ego accepts it. So, ask yourself : “Do I want to feel this same feeling over and over again?”.

When you are able to cut the cord from the past and the possible scary future, you are able to live in the now, you let go of the labels, then you see everything as a new experience. You bring back your child's wonder. When you do that, you then realize that your days are full of miracles from the unknown and the unlabelled things.

4. Remember that nothing is permanent

By knowing that there is nothing in this world that lasts forever, you then can appreciate every moment you are in. everything, good or bad, positive or negative, high or low, are impermanent. Seasons, The Earth, moon, anything will not remain the same. You are also a different person compared to you 5 years ago or yesterday. You change every time. Your life situation too. Even though you feel like having a bad day, it will change. When you feel like someone has changed so much, that’s impermanence too. You can’t expect someone to remain the same. We can’t stay the same forever, because we need to grow and learn. Change is necessary. So, everything will change, whether you like it or not.

It might be scary, because change is unknown and uncertain. But, the miracles are hiding behind every uncertainty, waiting for you to unfold them.

Don’t beat yourself up when you have negative feelings whether it’s tied to the past or to the possibilities in the future. Know, accept, let it pass through you, don’t avoid or stick into it. Nothing is permanent.

I hope you can live your best everyday, no matter what happens. Your life will be completely changed by fully living your life as you, not living inside your mind. You have lived as you for years, I believe that you can do this one thing to celebrate your life and make it the best. You don’t have to wait for next year or next month or for you being rich. You can only do it now, not in the past or in the future. So, have you decided to live your best life right now?

Yeah, I hope you enjoy this post, see you on the next post. Keep living, keep loving and peace!

Picture and infographic by lailiving

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Icons made by Freepik from Flaticon

Hello, my loves! Welcome back! Happy Earth Day!

As I mentioned before, I’ve been busy making daily videos on my youtube channel, haha, so I didn’t make posts other than weekly and monthly message. But, today, I want to make another cool post about Earth Day. You have been living on Earth for years, sometimes you wonder how you can thank the Earth for providing wonderful foods to eat, amazing scenery to enjoy and comfortable place to live. YOU CAN! You can always show your love to the Earth everyday. You don’t have to wait until you become a billionaire, or until you become famous with 1 million instagram followers. NO. You can always start doing good things NOW.

In this post I won’t mention the things that I don’t do. All the things I wrote here are the things that I do whenever I can, so don’t worry, it’s applicable! You don’t have to do it all, just do the things you can. To show your love, you don’t have to do many big things, you can start by the smallest ones in the current place you are in. Even if you are the only one who does it, it doesn’t reduce the positive vibe you are emitting. Your simple act of love might inspire other people around you by time. You don’t need to argue with other people in order to show your love, just do it. The Earth will be happy if you can peacefully do good things on it.

With the current situation, people might be doing panic buying so there might be nothing left for other people. You are allowed to be scared and feeling your fears, but it's selfish to think only for yourself by letting other people getting nothing. It applies to any situation, everyday, every time, it's important to buy only the things you need. Don't buy too many products that will end up getting unused due to the expiry dates or getting broken because of the storage issues. It's not wise to buy everything and let it be expired and unused while everyone out there needs that products. If you have excess products, you can give them away so that it can be useful for other people too. Please remember that, the main purpose of making a product is to be used.

Shortly, here we have the live of simple things you can do everyday to love the Earth

SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO LOVE THE EARTH

1// Unplug electronics and lamp when it’s not in use. Choose the eco-friendly lamp or the ones that consume less energy for your home and your office.

2// Bring your own shopping bag to reduce the plastic using. Some of stores will add extra charge for plastic bag if you don’t bring your own.

3// Buy foods or skincare products in recyclable or eco-friendly packaging. Some of skincare products use environment-friendly packaging and donate their sales for the forest and wild animals. Choose the foods that are grown locally to support local farmers too.

4// Finish off your meals. Empty your plates, don’t waste the resource, because there are still many people out there that need foods. Pick the small amount of meal when you are in a hurry.

5// Dry your hair naturally. Instead of using hair-dryer, let your hair dry naturally, especially if you stay at home the whole day. Also, use the sun energy to dry your clothes when it's sunny outside, instead of using dryer.

6// Empty your skincare products. Give the skincare products away if you can’t use it anymore. Buy the mini versions if you are new to that product, or buy share products with your friends. Clean the empty package before sending it to recycling center.

7// Focus on the good. By focusing on the good, you magnify its power. You can love the Earth by loving the beings that live on it and choose to focus on the good things that will bring more good things to your surrounding.

8// Take care of a plant in your home / apartment to make the air more fresh and healthy, also it’s pleasant to see the plants growing by time.

9// Clean your place before leaving. It doesn’t matter whether you use public place or your own room, but it’s important to make sure the place you have used is in clean state before leaving it. If it’s a public area, you are not only helping the Earth, but also the public worker who cleans it.

10// Use bamboo / steel straw. Bamboo straws are a sustainable alternative to plastic straws. They are naturally anti-bacterial and compostable at the end of their lifespan. You can bring your own straw when you go to restaurant (if they allow you to) or choose to buy the reusable ones for your home.

11// Choose washable mask. Instead of buying the single-use type mask, you can choose the washable mask to reduce the waste. You can also make your own washable mask too.

12// Hug a tree. It’s a bit weird but you can hug a tree in front of your home to convey your thanks to the tree for being there.

13// Walk or use public transportation to reduce the air pollution from vehicle. Walking is also good for your health, especially in the morning. You can also choose to use stairs instead of elevator in your workplace.

14// Browse using Ecosia. Ecosia is a browser that will plant a tree for every search we input. The numbers of tree we plant through Ecosia will appear on the top of the browser. I made the post about this browser in Bahasa Indonesia.

15// Use less paper. The technology we currently have makes it possible to reduce the paper usage, we can choose e-book, online tutorials, and digital journal.

16// Bring your own water bottle to avoid buying more plastic bottles. Beside it can reminds you to drink more water, you reduce the usage of plastic bottles. You can also choose the mineral water that provides refill service too.

17// Make everyday as Earth Day. Say thanks to the Earth for everything, like the oxygen you inspire, in the morning and before bed. You might not get a reply from the Earth directly, but a thank you would not hurt the Earth.

Oh, it’s something that I often find here in Indonesia. When you have to print out your report or anything, it’s better to not ask for plastic bag to the printing service. Instead, bring your own document keeper. You can’t go 100% paperless, but you can choose to not use plastic as often as you can.

Mom always brings her own shopping bag, literally every time she goes out. She taught me to reuse the bags we already have for shopping purpose so that the store or seller won't use any more plastic. Also, she has already been bringing her own food container for buying foods. During my childhood, I loved it when mom packaged her food container, because it means she would bring me somewhere to buy yummy foods. There was no food delivery services back then (only the big brands). She doesn't use the packaging (mostly plastic) provided by the seller. I think it's cool! Mom is cool! Haha.

Also, even if it's not February, you can do the #MyKindFebruary project I made this year that has prompts to do simple act of kindness everyday for 29 days.

Yeah. I hope this post will help anyone who reads it so that they will love the Earth more. Let’s take a conscious steps to love the Earth and stop doing the bad habits that might jeopardize it. How about you? How do you show your love to the Earth? Feel free to share in the comment box below ^^

13 things you can learn from (this forced) slowing down

1. Go inward, know yourself, have deep conversation with yourself more, do journaling

2. Do something creative, it shouldn’t have to be a public project, a private one is good for your mental health too

3. Learn something new

4. Spend your time more with your family and loved ones if you live with them

5. Believe the divine timing, everything has its own season and timing

6. Stop beating yourself up because you have been doing it for years

7. Stop judging other people’s decisions because you really don’t know them

8. Do the best thing you can do right now, focus on the good

9. When you failed to do something, use another way, or do something different

10. When you have tried almost everything you can, but you still failed, you need to take a break

11. You are not defined by the things you have nor things you can’t have

12. Life always helps you, don’t fight it

13. Reach out for help if you need it

Thank you for reading this blog post. I'm surprised it turned out to be like this. It's the coolest blog post I made so far. Yay! Please share to the people that might need to know this message. Let's help each other and together we reach the end of this tunnel. See you on the next weekly message. Keep living, keep loving, and peace!

Reach out // connect through :

Instagram : @lailiving

Twitter : @lailivingroom

Email : lailivingroom@gmail.com || BlogContact

Title picture and infographic by lailiving
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Icons made by Freepik from Flaticon

Hello, my loves! It’s April! Wow, doesn’t it feel so fast?

March was a peaceful month for me as I set the theme to be PEACE. We sometimes get heavy rain and cloudy days too. Overall, March was like a closing month, where we end the 12 month cycle as it’s marked by Pisces season and Mercury retrograde in Pisces that required us to slow down. Also, Saturn and Mars move into Aquarius in the last half of March and create a conjunction today at the very first degree of the sign. We might want to do many things but there are some limitations, like the current regulations for social distancing and restrictions for some areas. When you force things, it only hurts you, so it’s important to slow down, and to take alternative steps that both protect us and other people.

1. Lailiving Birthday

Lailiving is now a one year old baby! Yay! I created this blog on March 6, 2019. But I used to remember it as March 15, somehow, haha. So, the first time I decided to create this blog is for spreading more good things that are under the lifestyle category. I once had a beauty blog and music/entertainment blog, but then I felt like I want to do something more than this. There are still many things about life that I’m currently learning and I want to share it to everyone on the internet. Since it’s about lifestyle, lailiving popped into my head as a blog name, and it’s super easy to remember, it’s not too long, and the most important thing is that my name is in it, haha. This blog grows so much in one year, as I decided to post in English in November 2019. So, I hope this blog will reach more people, and I can improve my English too.

2. Monthly Theme : Peace

My March theme is Peace. March is a peaceful month for me. I'm blessed with peaceful circumstances, the books / articles that bring peace, and also meeting kind people. When you are able to be in peace with yourself, your outer situation will follow. The uncomfortable situation in our outside world is a reminder that our inner world needs our attention because something is not in equilibrium state. So, when you face something that you perceive as not peaceful, like someone who makes you angry, it might be that your inner world needs you to go there to put some good energy.

3. #FocusOnTheGood Project

I’ve started something that I believe will change my life one year from now, it’s #FocusOnTheGood Project on Twitter. Everyday I will focus on good things I experience and be grateful for it. In the middle of this pandemic, the mass focus is on the fear and it can be easily controlled by some people to spread more negativity to the world. But, we have the power to choose. We can choose to give our focus to anything we want. Anything we are focusing into will magnify its power. When you focus on the fear, the more fear you get. When you focus on gratitude, the more things that make you grateful will come. As I quoted from my favorite series, when you believe that people are bad, you can not see the good ones. It applies to everything in this world. If you can see this blog post as a good thing, it means you have focused on the good.

4. Book : The Power of Now

Actually, the book for March is Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabbat-Zin, but then The Power of Now was like summoning itself everywhere. It’s like saying “Please read me, again”. So, I paused the first book, to reread The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. The first time I read this book felt different. I could absorb the good messages, but during March I felt like it had more deep messages in it that I enjoyed reading this book like the first time I read it. It’s a popular book that is recommended by almost every youtuber I subscribed to, so if you haven’t read it, you better read it! You can get it through Google Books if you are an android user. There are more good messages that I wrote in my journal so that I can come back to read it whenever I need to. The Power of Now emphasizes on being in the present moment, to wake up, to break the chain of unconsciousness, that will absolutely change your life if you practice it. It opens my eyes and gives me more understanding of what life throws at me.

Here are some of my favorite quotes you can tweet :

“Surrender does not transform what is ,at least not directly. Surrender transforms you. When you are transformed, your whole world is transformed, because the world is only a reflection.”

“When there is no way out, there is still always a way through”

“The mind, conditioned as it is by the past, always seeks to recreate what it knows and is familiar with. Even if it is painful, at least it is familiar.”

“If you cannot feel your emotions, if you are cut off from them, you will eventually experience them on a purely physical level, as aphysical problem or symptom.”

“Real love doesn't make you suffer.”

“Even when the sky is heavily overcast, the sun hasn't disappeared. It's still there on the other side of the clouds”

5. New Skincare : iUNIK, PURITO, Senka

As I mentioned in February Highlight, I emptied almost all my skincare products, so I decided to buy new ones. This time, I only bought the ones I need the most which are another sunscreen, moisturizer and hydrating products (it’s essence). The sunscreen I bought is the same one I emptied this one which is Skin Aqua UV Moisture Gel. I also bought a new moisturizer that has been on my wishlist for years, iUNIK Centella Calming Gel Cream. The reason I chose this moisturizer is the gel type (which won’t make my face shiny during the day) and the niacinamide on the top 5 ingredient list. Even though niacinamide is everyone's favorite for brightening, I love this ingredient for its ability to calm my skin. This moisturizer also has centella asiatica extract, centella asiatica leaf water and allantoin that work as anti-inflammatory. Since I don’t use the day / night cream as moisturizer, I always choose the moisturizer that won’t make my skin greasy on a hot day, so the gel type one is the best choice for me.

Another skincare I bought is the one for hydrating purpose, that is PURITO Fermented Complex 94 Boosting Essence. This one also has niacinamide and allantoin in it. It has some fermented ingredients that are claimed to slow the aging process. So, yeah, I will be forever young, haha. PURITO is one of clean brands that is cruelty free and has recyclable packaging. It also uses only green labeled ingredients for most of its products. This essence has essence consistency that is thicker than hydrating toner, but it can easily be absorbed. I only use it during the night or when my skin needs more hydration.

And, I got Senka Perfect Whip White Vibrant White for free! A friend on instagram kindly did a giveaway for her extra purchased face wash. I haven’t tried this variant yet, so when my current face wash runs out, I will switch to this one. This product has Fuji Sakura Essence (you can find it listed as Prunus Speciosa Leaf Extract) and White Cocoon Extract (you can find it listed as Sericin and Hydrolyzed Silk). The ingredients show me that it does contain some ingredients such as alcohol, stearic acid, myristic acid and lauric acid that are usually drying out my skin, also it has fragrance. But, I can’t judge a product’s performance by its ingredients, so let’s see next time when I try this product! Yeah!

6. Skincare Empty : Skin Aqua

One skincare that I emptied in March is a sunscreen from Skin Aqua that is Skin Aqua UV Moisture Gel. The one with green cap is for oily skin, and it’s named “gel” even though it doesn’t have the gel consistency. It’s pretty similar to the other 2 variants for normal/dry and sensitive skin. It’s one of my favorite sunscreens that I recommended in my sunscreen blog post. It’s super affordable and it has my favorite UV filter : Tinosorb M in it. I usually wear it for my face, hands and feet, since it’s not sticky anymore, so it’s super comfortable to wear during the hot weather.

7. Japanese artists live you can watch

So, during this current pandemic, some Japanese artists / agencies hold special live streams on YouTube that we can watch for free. They aim for cheering up and bringing good vibes to the fans around the world. So, I’ve watched some of the live streams whether it’s a mini live, special live, or concert DVD streaming. You can also watch them since they’re archived after being streamed.

Some of lives that I watched :

>> LDH (they streamed past concert DVDs simultaneously on their channel, they manage some artists / groups like EXILE, 3JSB, E-girls, GENERATIONS, The Rampage, Doberman Infinity, DREAM Ami, Happiness, Leola, Aoyagi Sho, and many more).

>> Avex (you can watch Ai Otsuka, Ayumi Hamasaki, AAA, moumoon, Do As Infinity and many more. The one that I watched was Avex Special Live on March 8 that had some artists performing in the same stage like Beverly, GENIC, lol, FAKY etc. From this special live, I found a new favorite song by GENIC, haha.

>> Johnny's & Associates (a big and famous agency that has debuted many popular artists like Arashi, V6, Kinki Kids, Kanjani8, Hey! Say! JUMP, NEWS, Johnny’s WEST, King & Prince, and many more. They held special live for some groups from March 28 - 31, along with the birth of a super catchy song Wash Your Hands - a song that will stick in your mind forever once you listen to it. Haha. So, I watched the one this one that had kansai groups ~ because I’m so sexy baby, lol~, and the backstage/making part)

8. Playlist : Show Yourself, Glory Days, Tobira wo Akete, Dakishimetara

Show Yourself is a song by Idina Menzel and Evan Rachel Wood, for Frozen 2. When I first listened to this song, I didn’t feel anything, but during March, I felt like this song speaks more than its lyrics to me. So it’s an urge for me to do some “updates” for my life. I like both the original and Japanese version by Takako Matsu and Yoh Yoshida. Check my favorite part of this song that speaks my heart in my tweet below :

Show Yourself - Idina Menzel, EvanRachel Wood ( Spotify )

Show Yourself - Takako Matsu, Yoh Yoshida( Spotify )

Glory Days is my number one favorite song from Johnny’s WEST newest album Wtrouble that has reggae touch and refreshing vibe. Unfortunately you have to buy the physical copy of the song to listen to the full version. The preview is available on their release site. When I first listened to the preview I immediately got the image of summer and beach and sunscreen. So I think it’s suitable for a sunscreen commercial song, haha. By listening to this song, my days are being the glory days.

Glory Days - Johnny’s WEST ( CDJapan )

Glory Days - Johnny’s WEST ( ReleaseSite Preview )

Tobira wo Akete is an old song by ANZA from my favorite childhood series Cardcaptor Sakura. I just found out that the soundtrack for this series is available on Spotify, so yeah, I re-listen to them all and it feels so nostalgic. I can come back to my magical childhood era whenever I listen to the songs. One of my favorites is this song. It’s a cheerful and a positive song! The very first lines of the lyrics are : It's’ all right! It’s all right. It’s all right. It’s all right. A miracle can happen. Here we go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Spread your wings.

Tobira wo Akete - ANZA ( Spotify )

Dakishimetara is the newest EP titled MOONGENIC from avex group GENIC that I just found out during the Avex Special Live. I like this song immediately after watching their performance. It’s a cute love song that you can dance for. I think this song doesn’t only apply for romantic relationships, but also any relationship like friendship and siblings too. You know when you have a really close friend, no matter what gender they are, you feel safe with them even though both of you are doing your own thing, not talking to each other. You hug each other and feel the warmth and you laugh together.

Dakishimetara - GENIC ( Spotify )

So, yeah! This was another super long blog post I made, haha. I believe that April will be a wonderful month too, and there are more new things to do and to learn. I hope you enjoy this post, see you on the next lailiving blog on May!

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