Spectacular!

 World didn't end, we're just a step before New Year 2013! 

 I wish each one of you to be spectacular, to feel spectacular, to live spectacular! Do spectacular things, dare to dream of spectacular things, wear spectacular dresses! Plenty of minutes and moments will pass unnoticeable in your lives but cherish few, even the simplest ones, as the best treasures! Focus on what's good and what gives you hope, reach for what you want, let the world and people surprise you. Let you surprise yourself! Forget about old rules and set new ones, discover unknown lands, don't take anything for granted. Look for love and happiness and don't be ashamed of it. Shape your life, don't let others to do that instead. 

Live! Love! Laugh!

After Christmas post

 No matter how long you prepare and wait for Christmas, they always end and require coming back to reality after them. That's their charm and flaw. I hope your Christmas were as calm, happy and relaxing as mine, with family and dear people, without internet and worries, with dreamed gifts and delicious dishes.

  

  From tomorrow shops will be opened again, people will get up in the morning to go to work, all the machinery called "Life" will start again. For a while we could feel like in another, better reality. But few days will pass and we'll be in New Year's Eve rush. People like to have something to wait for, some special days marked in calendar with different color than grey. I'm also trying to make some days so special but they got mixed with everyday routine that sometimes turns out to be even more extraordinary and surprising than special occasions. Both kinds of days- usual and unusual ones are still the same life. Just as your favorite cd with two-three amazing songs and the rest of them that still makes this music your best.  

Intuition

 I had a teacher at university that used to praise cats as perfect creatures and, what's more, perfect killers- with their great hearing, silent step, paws with "automatic" claws, eyes seeing perfectly in the dark. Oh, not mentioning their ability to fall always on four paws and 9 lives. What else can we do, us poor human beings, than to be under the rule of the cats? ;)

 Cats were mentioned here not without any reason. In literature they symbolize magic, sensitivity, omen. We also have catlike element in us- i n t u i t i o n . We intuitively sense best friends and beloved ones. Sometimes you feel such a strong need of eating certain things- it's your intuition telling you what you need. (But why, oh why it has to be chocolate all the time? :D ) 

 Try to listen to the quiet voice prompting you new ideas and paths and see what will happen :)

 

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Talent

  Talent is a very complicated thing. When I hear about talented person, I picture artist or musician. Talented can be also actor, athlete, dancer, scientist, cook. I have a feeling that the way I see talent is very narrow and unfair, because I connect it with an occupation, with the fields when it can be the most visible. Talent is something very personal and individual- even among artists someone has talent to combine colors, someone has interesting line, someone perfectly captures moments, someone sculptures with amazing precision.

 I used to think that talent is a very rare gift. That on the whole planet there are only few lucky ones and the rest can just admire their greatness.  But now I'm much closer to the idea that talent is actually something really common (which doesn't mean it's worthless!). It's banality but: EVERYONE HAS TALENT. And talents are like snowflakes- you won't find two identical. It's a real talent to stay calm and find a solution for your problems. Some people have that amazing ability to always find the right words, describe the simplest things in an interesting way or tell the jokes. A friend matches simple clothes in fabulous sets and the other one finds amazing things in second hands.

 It's cool to live on a planet full of talented people :)

Nobility

  There must be something that differs common novels with the ones that become classic. And I don't mean here bestsellers that New York Times described as "Amazing book!" but books that take place in canon of literature.

  There must be something that differs one movies from another. Some of them won Oscar prize but it's not the distinction that I'm talking about here. I mean the movies that stay in the global memory as good, valuable ones. 

  There must be something that differs people. Of course except the obvious outer shell. Some of them stay unnoticeable while some we remember all our lives. 

 Nowadays everyone can be a writer, painter, photographer, designer, actor, someone famous. It's a huge privilege of our times but also a curse. Privilege because  you don't need to graduate from a prestigious university to be accepted as a talented man. Curse because it's harder to distinct who's real creator and who "just" has skills.

Warmers

  Cold days have come and with them warmer thoughts about coats, sweaters, caps and gloves. It's my little winter pleasure to wrap a long wool scarf around my neck, making sure that there's no way for the cold to slide under it. Or to hide under fluffy blanket, armed with mug of hot tea (with lemon and honey). 

 Another of my little guilty pleasures is to make lists. So here you go!

 Martka's favorite winter warmers:

  - mulled wine & beer (will they taste sooo good in summer???)
  - cinnamon (yep, known from its warming  up properties; pinch in a coffee or in carrot cake!)
  - cap (since I heard that 70 or 90% of your warmth 'escapes' through your head)
  - thick hot soups (mmm, can you feel the warmth spilling in your body?)
  - ice skates, sledges, snow fight, winter walks (just to produce more warmth and more endorphins!)
  - long lazy evening spent with the ones you love (aww, instantly warmer in your heart)
  - looking for best gifts marathon (that adrenaline...)

 How about you? Do you have any favorite warmers? :)

In the anthill

 Last year I felt like I'm living in a different reality before Christmas. I couldn't feel the atmosphere that other felt, that shops were trying to create, that songs in radio were trying to make me feel. This year is different. This year I was so impatient to hear first Christmas songs- immortal "Last Christmas" and "All I want for Christmas is you". I wanted to be charmed and seduced by the shopwindows, by the magical Christmas fairs and cities illuminated by the milion of lights.

 I'm dividing my time equally between housework and visits in the city center, where I join the before-Christmas-rush. How many preparations for spending three days with family! For making unique, festive atmosphere full of magic, kindness, sugar, spice and everything nice. Those two weeks before Christmas cities transform into huge anthills, with people following different directions, taking shopping and using it to build, to create something: gifts, cakes, decorations. 

 This everyday efforts and checked out points from lists of things to do calm me down and give me the satisfaction of spending my time in a good way, not wasting it. Each done things it's a small achievement that shows instant results: pile of creased clothes ironed, windows cleaned, gifts bought and wrapped, etc. I actually started to enjoy all those activities that usually I find boring, annoying or useless.

 Viva Christmas! :)

Simple beauty

 After a phase for sequins, shiny gold, hair full of volume and bright colors I'm dreaming about simplicity. Give me fresh air, give me sunlight, give me blue sky. Simple beauty of walking, drinking tea, stretching, listening to music, falling asleep, walking. Am I turning into Buddhist? Maybe :)

 Gok Wan believes in zen in your bathroom with your cosmetics- the less, the better. Choose quality over quantity. Maximum 10 make up cosmetics, but the best quality. I tried it-it works :) I felt instantly bigger pleasure of all beauty rituals because I wasn't distracted with the tons of lipsticks, shower gels, boxes and bottles of creams and liquids that got old and unattractive in my eyes. F.ex. instead of two or three cheaper lipsticks I can buy the one that is more luxurious and feel like a goddess every time I'm using it. You say: but you'll use it faster than three cheaper ones! I say: but do you really like to use old lipstick? After a while you'll throw it to the waste bin because it got expired or out of fashion.

  Oh, wait... But I wanted to write about dresses :) So does this zen rule applies to the wardrobe? Sure it does! Take a closer look on the piles of clothes in your closet and think of your every morning struggle: "This is too big!" or "I'm too big for this!" or "This one has a hole/stain!" or "I don't have time now to iron this!" or "What I had in my mind buying this?!" or "I don't have where to wear this!" or "I don't have what to wear this with!" etc. Save your time and place in the closet by giving all the clothes in good shape but no longer matching your shape to the charity. Throw out old to make a place for the new one. And next time you'll go for shopping, remember to complete your wardrobe with things that you need, you look and feel good in, you can mix with what you already have. 

Pareto principle

 Once I heard about it, I keep discovering how true this rule is and how well it works in everyday life. Have you heard of it? Pareto law is based on proportions: 80 and 20 and of course no one can explain it as well as Wikipedia ;) 80-20 rule can be applied to almost anything. Mr Pareto (Italian economist)  noticed that 80% of wealth in his country belongs only to 20% of population. Quite unfair, huh? But there are also examples from other fields, f.ex. one of my favorites: for the 80% of time you wear only 20% of your clothes! :) The rest is waiting for special occasions.

 Another example worth remembering, especially if you have an important goal in your life and you divided the process of reaching it into few steps. In this case: 20% of your effort and work is giving you 80% of effect!

 How could I apply it for the blog? Hmm... Maybe 80% of views comes from 20% of faithful readers (thank you all! :* )? :)