Tag: #Canva

Less

That’s my word for the year. I have been looking around me for the past few weeks, and all I see is stuff. My wardrobes and cupboards are overflowing. My inboxes are overflowing. My folders are overflowing. There is just too much “overflowing” going on around me.

Image: Canva

That is not the only reason I want to have less of everything. I want to have less because I want to focus on the things and people in my life that will bring me more. More enrichment, more growth, more enjoyment, more experiences, more fulfilment, more fun and more focus…I guess you get the picture.

I am very grateful that I have been blessed with the means to accumulate all that, but I have definitely lost my way. I have accumulated largely for the sake of accumulating things and because I can sometimes, though, my bank balance takes some strain. 

The issue with accumulating stuff, responsibilities and projects is that you can quickly lose sight of the things that are important to you. There are areas of my life that run me because of this lack of focus which is not on. It is time to take back the areas I can control, like my finances and my home, for example. I have spent so much time, money and effort into my education that I have let the maintenance of my home slip. I have allowed so many little things that need fixing to accumulate. I don’t know about you, but I also find it quite stressful when things don’t work correctly, so fixing it all will lead to less stress.

Clearing the clutter also adds energy to a space, or at least that is how it makes me feel. The same is true for clearing the mental and digital clutter. I feel rejuvenated and more alive when I step into a cleared space. I must admit that if I have done too good a job clearing a room, I feel a little lost in the space. 

There are two areas that I will find the most difficult to clear: my bookcases and my clothes. I will have to come to terms with the fact that there are quite a few of each that I have to release for someone else’s enjoyment. I may never get to read/wear them, and that’s okay.

This is just one of my bookcases that is screaming for help 😱

I have tried physically decluttering before, but the clutter has somehow found its way back. I have come to the conclusion that it’s because I didn’t have a “why” that resonated with me each time I did it. I just did it because, at that point, I was tired of the clutter and wanted a clear space. This time, I know why I want to do this, and I am clear on the benefits for me and my son. I am clear on how to restructure the space to achieve my desired benefits.

Transformation takes time. This has been my other downfall previously. I had lacked patience with the process. I end up accepting a lower standard just to see a difference. So, in 2024, there will also be less rushing and lots more patience. 

So, I am looking forward to a clearer and more focused year. Less for More in 2024!

Thank you for walking with me through 2023! May your 2024 be blessed.

Do you have a word or phrase for the year to come? 

Christmas Magic

It’s Christmas Eve! I am very excited as I get to see my dad tomorrow. My heart is sore that my son will not be with us, but I know he misses us already.
I am looking forward to being around the rest of my family!

I used to love the rituals and traditions of Christmas as a kid. My mother would bake Christmas mince pies the night before to have with coffee/tea after midnight mass. I was not much of a fan, but I enjoyed them when they came out of the oven. Her pastry was always light and crispy, so I loved biting into the pies. We would attend midnight mass, which was the most popular mass. I don’t think our church was ever as full during the year as it was for midnight mass. It was the coolest place to be!

Image: Canva


When we got home, we got to open our gifts. Sometimes, that gift was a birthday and Christmas present since my birthday was two weeks after, or it was a small gift at Christmas, and I would receive the main one for my birthday. At the time, my heart would be a bit sore, but one nice gift was definitely better than none. I grew up in a middle-class family, so there was always enough to meet our needs and, pretty often, our wants as well, but sometimes the needs required a little more of a stretch in the budget. In South Africa, January is also the start of the school year, so school uniforms, etc., are the budget priority every year. I digress… once all the gifts were opened, it was time for bed.
In the morning, my mum would cook a hearty lunch. There was always tongue, roast beef or pork, a curry, rice, salad, or veggies. My favourite part was always dessert. My mum made a traditional boiled Christmas pudding and would stuff a few coins inside. Everyone always got one, but it was that moment of sheer delight when you heard your teaspoon scrape against it as you took another spoonful or you saw it peaking through in your pudding. Even though it was guaranteed, I always felt super lucky to get one.


After lunch, my dad would insist that he suffered from a skin shortage and that his expanded tummy was pulling his eyelids close. 😂 My sisters and I would be occupied with our gifts, or we would compare gifts with neighbourhood friends. My mum would rest.

Christmas at Granny’s


We continued this tradition until the year before my mum passed away. Our kids loved it just as much as we did. We would leave a biscuit and milk for Father Christmas, and the person who locked up when leaving for midnight mass would have to place the gifts under the tree, drink the milk, and eat the biscuits. 😂 Every year, without fail, the kids were in awe. They believed Father Christmas had visited while we were in church and left their gifts. When my son was about five, he was convinced he heard Father Christmas’s sleigh flying over the church. He was too cute.


Our new ritual is to assemble at my baby sister’s house for lunch, and we open our gifts there. Her husband and mother-in-law make us divine curries, biryanis, gammon, and salads. Yum! My mouth waters at the thought. I make the traditional Christmas pudding, and I still add the coins for the fun of it.
I am so grateful to have such fantastic memories of Christmas and to have been able to share my childhood experiences with my son. We have a new reality now, and I feel it is fitting that the tradition has changed, as it would not have been the same without my mum. She was central to the old one. I am also grateful that I still get to celebrate Christmas and that I get to do it with my family.

I have been searching for pics of Christmases past and I noticed that I have very few. While I am disappointed, I also see it as a good thing. It means I am so present in the moment that I tend to forget about my phone. That is a very rare for me these days. Christmas is definitely an “All In” day for me.


Do you still follow the same rituals as you did as a child, or have you created new rituals and traditions for your family? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful Christmas! Be blessed.

Rejection has nothing to do with your worth

Daily writing prompt
Are you a good judge of character?
View all responses

Today I have decided to respond to the day’s prompt which asks if I am a good judge of character. I believe that the answer is yes. I believe Maya Angelou had it right when she said:

“When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time.”

Maya Angelou

I believe that people show us who they are in two ways:

1. Their Energy

We all exude an energy and for me, it’s a sensitivity to that energy that helps me understand whether I want to keep someone in my life or not. It doesn’t mean that the person is good or bad as such but it means that they are good or bad for me. If I keep getting a nagging feeling about a person when I am in their company then I walk away as that person’s agenda is probably detrimental to me in some way or is incompatible with my goals/vision for my life.  

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2. Their Actions

I am an “actions speak louder than words” kinda gal. And they do. No matter what people say, they will always show you who they are especially when they start getting comfortable with you. As a single woman who still dates, this is a huge help. I often find that when you start dating or just chatting to someone they will generally message you often. You will get that morning text and have that evening chat with a few messages sprinkled in-between throughout the day. The one’s worth giving a chance to are the ones who at least keep up the morning messages and evening chats. They are at least interested in a relationship and in you as a potential long term partner. The rest…that morning text is usually the first to go. Once that goes, I am out. Either that person just enjoys the chase, which is what it is, or they are just not into me and that’s ok too. I came across this quote on IG about a year or two ago: “Rejection has nothing to do worth your worth but it has everything to do with your compatibility.” I listened to it over and over and once I internalised, it became a game changer. So when someone’s actions show that they are not into me anymore or might never have been, it’s ok. It has nothing to do with my worth.

How do you decide who you allow into your world?

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed!